Landfall
by Mr-Worth-A-Read
Summary: FIRST IN A SERIES. As Giant Monsters hidden away for decades begin to resurface, a US Special Forces soldier races home across the Pacific to his wife, who is trapped in the warpath of the battling titans. Meanwhile a team of scientists and government agents attempt to cover up the global conspiracy and debate its' implications. Rated T for violence and infrequent strong language.
1. PROLOGUE

**At long last, the first entry of my New Godzilla series has arrived, quite fittingly on 08/28/18, exactly four years after the publishing of my original story: The Rise of Mothra.  
So without further ado, I give you Landfall.**

* * *

PROLOGUE:  
It was an early morning in the beginning of March. A cluster of US Navy Warships stood ready around a small collective of islands. The ships varied from small light cruisers to full aircraft carriers with planes rowed across their decks. An eerie silence hung over the lagoon as the naval ships were entirely devoid of life. Left abandoned, they were strewn about the lagoon in different locations, anchored down to the ocean floor.  
They were targets.

Far, far from the atoll a viewing platform was assembled on the deck of a ship. Over a dozen military officials were taking their seats in the rows as scientists adorned in white labcoats frantically dashed about amongst the khaki uniforms of Navy Officers. Radios squawked as the occasional plane flew overhead. Radar dishes slowly turned atop the command tower of the vessel as several video cameras were rolling, their lenses pointed in the direction of the islands several kilometres away.

"Top Secret" was an understatement, as only the highest ranking officials had any idea of the operation. Amongst the US Military insignias was a far different icon. The symbol had a globe adorned with leaf crests and the words _Division Three_.  
Division Three was the multinational organisation overseeing the operation. They were known for their obsessive secrecy, with their unofficial motto " _The less the people know, the better._ "

Down below deck in one of several offices, Gendo Yamane was finishing a memo on a typewriter. He had been assigned to help put together a false collection of events to cover up the true intentions of Division Three and the US Navy. His job was to rewrite statements and erase any trace of Division Three's involvement. For plausible deniability, not even Yamane knew the details of what his organisation was up to. Hailing from Takayama, Japan, he was a man in his early twenties. Getting into the organisation purely through nepotism, he quickly fell under the wings of the programs' director and surpassed his fathers' position in the executive branch. His short dark hair a mess, thick-rimmed glasses hanging on his nose in front of incredibly tired eyes, it was clear he had been up all night long working on the document, carefully putting into place each of the pre-made statements by higher-ranking personnel.

 ** _SHRIMP Drive Prototype:  
Attached to the cylindrical ballistic case was a natural-uranium liner, the radiation case; that was about 2.5 cm thick. Its internal surface was lined (glued) with a copper liner that was about 240 μm thick, and made from 0.08-μm thick copper foil, to increase the overall albedo of the hohlraum. Copper possesses excellent reflecting properties, and its low cost, compared to other reflecting materials like gold, made it useful for mass-produced hydrogen weapons. Hohlraum albedo is a very important design parameter for any inertial-confinement configuration._**

Yamane frantically typed away, ignoring the pain in his knuckles as they tensed up from the strain. After another few minutes it was too much and he sat back in his chair, flexing his hands painfully. Eyes watering, he let out a long yawn when a hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder from behind and Yamane jumped.

"There's about an hour to go." A familiar voice said calmly as he turned to greet them. It was Howard Fogarty; the Director of Division Three's TOHO Board. "I think you should see it." He gestured to the typewriter. "That can wait."  
"Yes, sir." Yamane replied, getting out of his chair.

Yamane struggled to keep up with Fogarty's strides. The man was in his early fifties with his short-cropped hair beginning to grey at the temples. Dressed in a clean black suit and tie, he seemed incredibly out of place aboard the ship, especially as the two climbed the stairs and arrived on deck where the other military officials waited.  
"We're going all-out with this one." Fogarty explained, "She's expected to reach The Big Five."  
Yamane knew exactly what that meant. Five Megatons.

Reaching their seats towards the end of the third row, the two sat down and picked up the protective goggles off of the floor beneath the seats. As Yamane fiddled with the straps on the bulky black goggles, Fogarty began to talk with one of the disgruntled scientists stood nearby.

"What do you mean?" He asked the man casually,  
"J. Carson Mark ran the numbers. He said it would be a _Big One_." Doctor Turner replied anxiously, to which Fogarty scoffed,  
"That's a good thing. Bravo's supposed to be bigger." He said confidently.  
Turner shook his head, "Not as big as Carson predicted."  
The Director shrugged and pulled down his goggles,  
"The bigger the bang; the better."

….

The hour slowly ticked away as they awaited the countdown. Yamane was practically blind in the goggles as the lenses were so dark he could barely make out the sun in the sky. He tried to look at his hands when the countdown started.

10….  
9….  
8….

Chills ran down Yamane's spine as he looked around at the other officials. All of them had their gazes off into the horizon at the cluster of islands. Looking around, he saw the cameras were still rolling; their operators leaning closer and closer to the viewfinders. Yamane looked down at his watch:  
06:44

5….  
4….  
3…

Looking back up to the islands, he blinked hard when he thought he saw something move. Squinting, he thought it was the darkness of the lenses playing a trick on his eyes. Except he was wrong. He could clearly see one of the islands –it looked like it was …. _moving?_

2…  
1…

All sound in the world died in an instant as Yamane shot his eyes to the floor to protect his eyes from an immensely bright flash. It was as if the sun had appeared on the horizon in a split second. The light was so bright he wasn't sure if the lenses in his goggles were still there. Shielding his eyes with his hand, he looked up again at the light on the horizon.

Yamane was no stranger to explosions. He had witnessed countless weapons tests in the last year and a half at Division Three. He had watched intently as Target Aircraft struck the ground and erupted in flames. He had seen test footage of buildings being blasted apart, but nothing could at all compare to what was in front of him.  
It was a monster of a fireball. Shooting up high into the sky, he could see clouds dispersing around it as it ballooned up. Miles upon miles high, Yamane was sure it would reach outer space as it rapidly expanded and blossomed. It was as if his brain had shut down as not a single thought ran through Yamane's head as he sat, transfixed at the devastation.

….

 ** _Castle Bravo. Detonated 06:45 at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands; March 1st 1954.  
Predictions estimated the bomb to be in the range of Five Megatons, however, Bravo detonated with a much higher yield of Fifteen; three times what had been calculated. This was due to the hypothesis that only the Lithium-Six Isotope would be reactive, however Lithium-Seven also decayed, causing a much larger Neutron Flux and therefore higher yield. _**

It had been two days since the detonation when Yamane finished the statement, leaving the finished thirty-plus page memo on Fogarty's desk. Heading back to his office, he slumped down in his chair and stared at the piece of paper next to his typewriter. It was a stray piece of notepad he had torn out of a notebook he had since gotten rid of. Picking up a pencil, he continued his sketch on the paper. Yamane had frequently been trying to draw what he had seen before the bomb went off. The island he saw move was much larger than the others if he remembered correctly. Except unlike previous sketches, this one was more accurate. The palm trees atop of this island silhouette were more erratic and angular –more like spikes than actual plant life. It was almost as if the island was alive. Yamane didn't dare ask Fogarty about it.  
What the hell was Division Three keeping secret from the world?

 **LANDFALL**

* * *

 **Boom, the prologue of Landfall. As of posting, the story is already complete and I'm half way through the sequel, so I will be uploading new chapters DAILY. I'd upload them at a faster rate but converting the chapters to Fanfiction's DocX system is a bitch because the original Word file had different text sizes and fonts, so a simple copy and paste makes it look more like a copypasta code.  
Anyway, I hope you like this story, feel free to leave a review and stay epic  
-MrWorthARead**


	2. 1: Alpha Six

Chapter 1: Alpha Six  
/64 Years Later, Pacific Ocean; June 5th 2018:

A lone cargo freighter bobbed up and down in the calm waters. Anchored down, she slowly drifted with the current until the anchor chair pulled taught, keeping the ship somewhat in place. The throbbing of helicopter rotors echoed across the hull of the cargo ship as a CH-46 Sea Knight swooped past the ships' midsection. Doors open on both sides, the helicopter came to a stop, hovering just above the ships' bow as ropes descended from the helicopter.

One they hit the deck, tiny figures began to emerge and slide down the ropes onto the ship, surrounding the control room. Suppressed weapons coughed and glass shattered. Collecting at the doorway, one of the figures opened it and they swarmed inside, rifles pointed in different directions as they swept the deck.

The lead figure was Master Chief Petty Officer Cade Matkovic. A man in his mid-thirties, he was young for an officer of his rank. Standing around 6'2 he had tanned skin and messy reddish-brown hair tucked under his helmet. Keeping his HK416 level, he extended an arm and flicked two fingers at a nearby doorway. One of the other soldiers flung the door open and shone a flashlight down it, revealing the glint of steep metal stairs onto the lower level. In close formation, the team descended down the dark staircase, green laser pointers glaring.

Spilling onto the next deck, the team fanned out again, their silenced weapons sputtering again. Feeling the recoil in his shoulder, Cade fired another burst into the wooden target and it exploded into tiny splinters before they moved on. Taking point, Cade advanced through the cramped corridors with his teammates on his back. Entering another chamber, they cleared the room before spreading out into a circle.

"Boone, I want you to take Team Two. Head to the bridge and clear it." The operator nodded and took off with half of the squad. The others remained with Cade, all staring at him with their four-lensed L-3 GPNVG-18–ANVIS night vision goggles.  
"Everyone else on me. I want a clean dispersal this time." He explained before heading onwards with the others in tow.

The weapons' scope up to his face, Cade slowly crept around a tight turn, bending round one side to make sure it was clear before moving up.  
" _Check those corners._ " He said aloud to the others as they explored deeper into the maze of almost pitch-black corridors.  
" _Check those corners!_ "

Up ahead, two more targets stood outside a doorway. They were standard training targets –a wooden outline with a generic black and white print of a terrorist pointing an AK-47 on the front. Stopping, Cade and the others opened fire and quickly splintered the targets before closing on the door.  
"Is this it?" He asked.  
"This is the one." A voice replied from elsewhere in the squad. "They're in there."

Nodding, he took position on one side of the door as 'Dusty' took up on the other. Lowering his weapon, Cade clenched a fist and tapped it on the top of his helmet; issuing the order to breach. Dusty acknowledged and dropped to one knee as he took out his kit. Taking out a long striped stick, he planted it on one side of the door and taped it on, followed by another and finally a small square package in the centre. Pulling a cord, he stepped back and got into position.

The door exploded inwards and hit the deck with a loud CLANG as the team burst into the room. Rifles fired and empty shell casings pinged off of the floor. More targets crumbled and in seconds, the room was clear. All that remained was a large dummy tied up to a folding chair, a sign hung around its' neck reading:  
 ** _Someone Important_**

"Team Two this is Alpha Actual." Cade spoke into the comms, "We've secured the HVT; moving to extract, over." The radio crackled for a moment.  
"Solid. Bridge is secure, all hostiles eliminated. Pushing to evac site. Team Two Out."

….

A door to the main deck swung open and Cade's team filed out, weapons still pointed as they formed a protective circle around Dusty who had the dummy slung over his shoulders as if he were a fireman carrying an injured person. Moving up to the bow again, they halted as the Sea Knight hovered back from the bridge and began to lower down for them. Placing their dummy aboard, they each hopped inside one at a time, greeting Team Two who were already on board. Cade was the last one on, climbing onto the ramp, he banged his fist against the hull, indicating to the pilots that they were good to go.

The rotors began to hum loudly and the helicopter lifted off of the deck, quickly leaving the cargo ship behind as the ramp closed. Flipping up his night vision goggles, Cade turned to the rest of his team, who sat talking quietly.  
"Nice job, folks." He said confidently. "Haven't seen a drill go that smoothly before."

….

Fort Letchi was a costal fortress. Hidden far out in the Sea of Japan, it was the central hub for all special operations in the region. Several platforms based around a small island, it was a busy nexus of activity, all of which was entirely off-the-grid to the civilian world.

The Sea Knight began to lift her nose as she came into land on one of the several pads ready for helicopter arrival. The ramp opened and Alpha-Six spilled out with Cade in the lead. They were a US Navy SEAL unit appointed to covert operations in the Korean Peninsula. All tried and true DEVGRU Operators, the team consisted of the best of the best.

Dusty patted Cade on the shoulder as he stepped off the ramp.  
"We best drop into brass soon." He said. "Let them grill us on things we missed."  
"Sure thing, brother." Cade replied. Dusty was a close friend of Cade outside of the military. Towering over the Master Chief, Dusty was a large man with a rough, unkempt beard and almost never seen without a baseball cap and shades. Born and raised in New York, he may as well have had the dammed Statue of Liberty tattooed onto his forehead. Hailing from a military family, his father fought off the Tet Offensive in Vietnam and his Grandfather stormed the beaches at Normandy; There was no way he was _not_ going to become a soldier.

As the rest of the team headed to the barracks to drop off their equipment, Cade and Dusty headed straight for Major Gordon's office. As they approached, the man was waiting outside for them. Sandy hair and a pair of aviators, Major Gordon was a familiar face that everyone looked up to. Despite not being the highest ranking NCO on the base, he was the most respected. Hands in his pockets, the Major walked over to them, looking off onto the horizon for a moment first.

"Welcome back." He greeted them. "You beat the par time on the course." He explained. Gesturing to the door of the command building, he asked the two SEALs to follow him in.

….

In the background in the office, a series of small television sets played, each one playing back footage of the Cargo Ship raid from various security cameras aboard the ship. Cade leaned back casually in his chair as Major Gordon towered over him behind his desk. Dusty was off to one side, arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the back wall next to a large painting of the _USS Nimitz_.

"After securing the High Value Target what did you do?" Gordon asked.  
"Once Stitch finished patching up his injuries, we carried the target to the upper decks for evac, just as planned."

Gordon leaned in, his palms planted on his desk.  
"Did you check the entire ship for any other important materials? Munitions, records or other things of importance? There were three rooms nearby that your team did not check"  
Cade shrugged, "I had Dusty run through the ship's manifest and grab any paperwork considered important. We didn't have time to dick around."

The Major then turned his attention to Dusty.  
"Is this true."  
Dusty nodded,  
"One hundred percent, sir. The manifest was lying nearby on a desk among some other papers. I went through and grabbed everything."  
" _Everything?_ "  
"Everything but the onions." The Junior Lieutenant chuckled.

Major Gordon acknowledged, taking a seat back in front of his desk.  
"I'm putting another drill together. I'll be teaming you up with Alpha Nine for a land-based operation." He looked around at the two SEALs, "I'll buzz you when we're ready to begin a briefing."

Sighing, he began to sift through the stack of papers reporting on the drill.  
"Dismissed." He said in a tone that was clear he hated the excessive bureaucracy his rank had him work on.

Dusty and Cade saluted before leaving the office.

Walking out into the hot afternoon sun, Cade groaned, shielding his eyes from the bright orange glow.  
"I guess Gordy wants to keep us on our toes." Dusty remarked. "I'm sick of drills already."  
Cade agreed. They had been running training missions nonstop the past few months. Despite how tempting it was, a live combat op probably wouldn't be the best solution.  
"Don't forget what happened in Kabul." Cade warned, thinking back to their search-and-destroy mission back in 2013.  
"That was a shit show if I ever knew one." Dusty remarked, grumbling.

Back at the barracks, the two began to unload their equipment. Ripping open the Velcro on his front plate carrier, Cade took the heavy armor out of the vest and placed it down on a table, taking off the webgear to do the same for the one on his back. And took out the spare magazines from their pouches, stacking them up nearby. Unbuckling the chinstrap, he took off his helmet and ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. Walking over to the lockers, he stuffed the equipment into the pigeonhole and lifted out a large plastic case.

Slamming it down on the table, he flicked open the buckles and opened it. Taking the magazine out of his HK416, he double-checked the safety was on and placed the weapon into the box, fitting it neatly into the foam cut out of the weapon next to the shorter CQB Barrel configuration. Closing the case, he started off to put it back when he whistled out to Duty, pointing to the magazines.  
"Could you take them back to the armory?"  
"Sure thing." The man replied, "Gus won't be happy when we _bring back_ bullets."

Cade laughed as he put his rifle back and headed to his quarters. Walking down the corridor, he looked at the room numbers on the sides of the doors, eventually finding his own and walking inside. As commanding officer, he had a room all to himself unlike the others who were paired in bunks. Lifting a duffel bag out of the nearby closet, he dumped it on the bed and started to get changed.

Tossing the dirty clothes aside when he was finished, he looked down at the olive drab t-shirt, checking there was nothing on it. Walking over to his desk, Cade grabbed a laptop off of the top and turned to leave, smirking at the large Virginia flag pinned above his bed. His team had gotten him it as a gift, at the time unaware he was from _West Virginia_. Turning off the lights, he headed out and back down the corridor with the laptop tucked under his arm.

Entering the lounge, he found most of the team loudly talking away.  
"Hey boss!" Stitch called out, grinning as he held another squadmate in a headlock, "Turns out Rooks' gonna be a daddy!" He said, nodding to the man he had his arm around. That was unexpected, Cade thought. Rook was a newer member to the team, hence the callsign, so it was somewhat of a surprise that he would have a kid of his own before Cade did. Then again, he wasn't much older than Rook.  
"That's great." He called back smiling. "You mind passing me one?" He asked, pointing to the case of beer resting on the coffee table. The Medic shrugged letting Rook out of his hold before tossing the Master Chief a bottle.  
"I won't be long." Cade said as he caught the beer, "Don't start the party without me."

….

Finding a secluded place outside, he put the laptop down and turned it on, popping the beer open as he waited for it to power up. In a blur of motion, he typed in his Skype login and scrolled through his contacts, finding the one he needed before pressing call.

As the laptop hummed away waiting for an answer, Cade took a swig of the drink and set it to one side. The black screen came alive to a woman's smiling face. It was his wife Rachel Matkovic.

"Hey, beautiful!" He greeted her, an ear-to-ear grin on his face. "How you doing?"  
"Okay I guess." Rachel replied, "Did I tell you that Larry is thinking about making a 2020 bid?" Cade shook his head, perplexed,  
"Really? Then again, who could blame him? I imagine the Oval Office would be really tempting if its' just outta reach."

Rachel sighed, clearly stressed out by her work.  
"Yeah so we're starting to put the campaign together today. He's going to give a speech while we're here in San Francisco, tease it out to the public. There's a lot of work to do."

Cade smiled,  
"I can imagine. Things ain't too peachy over here either." He explained, holding back on specific details. "Remember Jeffrey?" He asked, referring to Rook's real name. "He's going to have a kid soon. Just found out a minute or so ago. The guys are giving him the special treatment."  
Rachel laughed, looking down to some papers off to one side before checking her watch.  
"I've got to go, I'll call you later. Stay handsome"  
"I will. Love you, baby." Cade finished before ending the call.

Pushing away from her desk slightly, Rachel checked the papers a second time. She recently had her people put together some drafts for letters to send to Larry's potential future donors. She was Chief of Staff to Lawrence 'Larry' Meechum; the current Vice President of the US.

The door clicked quietly as it opened and a head stuck through the door.  
"Did Jessica give you the drafts?" Larry Meechum asked curiously. Rachel nodded, holding up the papers with a smile.

Larry beamed like a child, fully entering the office. He was the polar opposite to the President. A young first term senator from California, many compared him to the likes of Joe Biden as the quirky off-the-rails one who was popular amongst young voters, which stood out when compared to President Keyes' calm, collected and policy-driven demeanour.

Hands in his pockets, he began to set out his ideas for his San Francisco speech.  
"I wasn't thinking anything too over the top," He began, "Maybe just sticking with platitudes for the most part. Just treat it like an ordinary speech and leave people hanging as to whether or not I'm actually running." He went over and took a seat by the window, "If I run, I don't know who to approach for contributions."

"Denny Hoyt just lost support from Danatec after his last blunder." Rachel said, "That should give you a major advantage if he's you're biggest primary threat." Meechum shrugged,  
"That makes sense. Do you think Hawkstone-Marigold would cough up some coins?" He asked her curiously. "If I shoot straight down the middle I could win them over." 

Rachel stood from her desk, walking out around the front to sit on the front of her desk as the two brainstormed.  
"I would have thought they'd donate no matter what, Larry. They've helped out Republican candidates for twenty years. They only flipped to Kerry in '04 because they wanted to give Bush the finger." She explained, "They've always been on our side. Its' Danatec that you're going to have to sweeten up to."

Meechum planted his head in his hands and moaned aloud.  
"Christ if this keeps up its' gonna be a _long_ campaign…"

* * *

 **Hey, MrWorthARead again. Thank you for waiting on this chapter there's way more to come.  
While part of this story is based heavily in US Politics and elections, I just want to clarify TOTAL NEUTRALITY. Deciding which party Vice President Meechum was part of was actually done through eenie meenie miney mo and has no connection to or relation to any Administrations, past or present, blady-blah. **

**Anyway, as for in terms of the series as a whole; Landfall is really going to set the scene in a way very similar to G14, establishing a lore and background to build on. My end goal is a Marvel MCU style universe with all kinds of human and non-human characters.  
Also on a side note, the character of Dusty is pretty much identical to the Dusty in the two Medal of Honor games set in present day. So there's that.  
Stick around and stay awesome. **


	3. 2: First Contact

Chapter 2: First Contact

"Ladies!" Cade boomed as he stepped back into the lounge, half-empty beer bottle raised, "Your prodigal son returns!" Rook and Boone greeted him as the Master Chief collapsed onto a nearby couch. Dusty was sat near the stereo, an unlit cigar sat in the corner of his mouth as he cheered on Rook as he beat Stump in an arm wrestle. About twenty minutes passed before Cade's smartwatch buzzed. Looking down at it, he read the notification and nodded to Dusty before the two got up and started to leave.

Walking along through the base, they passed the airfield, where a handful of fighters were being refuelled alongside a couple of titanic Globemasters. Cade and Dusty were completely dwarfed by the pair of gigantic cargo planes. The sun had since gone down and the only light was coming from the spotlamps and runway lights dotted around the base. Up ahead was the command centre, where several other figures stood under a camouflaged awning stood around a table. From the looks of it, Alpha Nine must have just gotten back from a patrol or drill as the three SEALs were still kitted out in their combat gear, weapons slung.

Major Gordon greeted Cade and Dusty as they arrived at the table. Cade exchanged nods with Alpha Nine's commander; Jerry Stone.  
"This Operation is a land based drill." The Major explained, pointing out a small island on the map, which had been circled in red pen with several notes jotted down around it. "In the centre of the island is an ICBM Silo. Your objective is to neutralise it. He looked up again to the SEALs. "You will be inserted together on the east beach and will need to move up, taking out any costal defences that lie in the way." Gordon placed several aerial photographs in view of the two teams. "There are two ways into the Silo on the east side; through the command centre and through the exhaust tunnel. I'd recommend utilising both routes."

Stone spoke up, his rough Boston accent ringing bells of familiarity with Cade,  
"So how about one team enters and disables the command centre." He then took the second picture; "And then the other disables the opening mechanism for the hatch." Cade nodded in agreement,  
"Yeah, if we hit both targets simultaneously, it will allow us to regroup for exfil on the west side of the island easier."

Gordon folded his arms, he was about to say something when a Naval officer appeared and tapped him on the shoulder. The officer whispered something quietly and Garret frowned. Looking back to the SEALs he rushed out his last speech.  
"The operation will begin at 16:50 tomorrow. Until then you have full access to any weapons you need for it. I'll see you then." He looked to Cade before leaving, "I might be letting you raid the armory on this one, Cade, but the Sixth Fleet is off limits. No Battleships." Without another word, Gordon headed off into the main building and the SEALs departed.

Following the Junior Officer, Major Gordon entered the main operations building, heading up the stairs to the command tower. Two guards stood outside with M16s. Showing them his ID, they let him and the officer into the room. Vice Admiral Merrick stood hunched over one of the consoles, staring at the screen.

"What's the situation, sir?" Gordon asked as he entered. Merrick straightened and turned to the Major, his older face wrought with concern.  
"We have an unidentified object en route to the base." He explained. "It's less than a mile out and we have no idea what the hell it is."  
One of the other naval officers decided to step in,  
"A recon flight found it was moving underwater: but it is way too big to be a submarine."

Gordon stepped forward to one of the consoles, looking at the screen. The radar-like picture showed that whatever it was, it was truly massive. Asking the ensign at the post if the comms were on, the man nodded and handed him a headset which Gordon put on.  
"Inbound Unidentified Object, you are in restricted US Military waters. Squawk ID and head west out of the perimeter."  
For about a full minute, the command centre waited for a response. Nothing. That was not a good sign.  
"Unidentified Object, new orders. You are to link with US Destroyer _McCampbell_ and we will escort you to Yokosuka Naval base." As he spoke, several officers went away to their comms, dishing out orders as preparations for the Destroyer went underway. In the distance, Gordon could see a mess of activity around the _McCampbell_ as it prepared to leave dock. "If you do not comply, we _will_ use deadly force."  
Again, no response.

Sirens began to blare around the base as Fort Letchi was put on high alert. Troops rushed to positions as armored vehicles rushed to the east side where the target was approaching from. Fighter jets scrambled to get into the air as the _McCampbell_ turned her guns out to sea.

….

Stone and his team awaited the arrival, bipods on their weapons deployed behind cover as they had their gunsights fixed on the ocean beyond the base perimeter. Movement appeared on the black horizon. A large bump rose in the water, almost the height of the Destroyer. As the shape smoothly advanced towards the base like a tidal wave, the water around it began to disperse, revealing two massive curved spines slicing through the water towards them.

Fingers hovered on triggers as troops swapped confused glances as the occasional "What the hell is that?" could be heard.  
Stone kept his MK.48 at the ready, keeping the weapon trained on the space between the two spines.

About one hundred metres from the base, the spikes stopped and the water they carried rushed past them, lapping against the costal walls of the fort. The spikes stood still for well over a minute as almost every gun in the base was pointed at them. The _McCampbell_ was pulling closer as Black Hawk gunships hovered overhead, shining spotlamps on the mysterious object. Up close, the spikes had an eerie bonelike appearance, the light shining off of them reflecting a deep dark gold colour.  
The spikes suddenly started to rise, revealing a large humped back and appendages as guns began to open fire. The object –the creature- quickly rose out of the water, towering high over the costal wall of Fort Letchi. The beast shrieked and cackled as tracer fire ricocheted off of its' armored hide.

Marching forward, the beast clambered into the base, crushing those still stood defending the perimeter. Total anarchy ensued as missiles from the destroyer rocketed up into the sky, arcing down over the advancing monster.

….

"What the hell is going on?!" Cade shouted, staggering out of the barracks with his kit in his hands.  
"We're under attack, we're under attack!" one soldier replied, sprinting past him towards the east end where the explosions were coming from. Dozens of other squads rushed to the gate as Cade dropped his webgear and ran back into the barracks.  
"EVERYONE OUT NOW!" his voice boomed as he ran past the lounge, bursting out the other side towards the armory.

Snatching up his rifle box, he tore open the case and grabbed his HK416, slamming a magazine home as the others did the same. Looking round, Cade did a head count.  
"Where's Dusty and Boone?" He shouted.  
"They went to the range!" Rook shouted back, frantically pulling on his helmet.

Taking off running, the SEALs made their way across the airfield to the vehicle depot near the gun range where the two members of Alpha Six were last seen. Cade looked to the commotion and saw the creature steadily pushing through the base's defences, brushing off immense amounts of gunfire. An explosion silhouetted the beast as Cade's blood ran cold. The creature resembled some kind of large reptile, well over a hundred meters tall. It hissed and cackled amid the battle sounds, except the shrieks were coming from not just one…but _three_ elongated heads. Two A10 fighters screamed past the monster, their nose canons humming loudly as they fired. Flicking its' tail the creature smashed one of the planes out of the sky in a single swoop, kicking up tanks with its feet as it moved. The monster seemed almost dragon-like, standing hunched forward with a pair of clawed arms tucked under its chest. The three heads snaked about on long twisting necks, each roaring and growling in different directions.

Cade froze in place as an M1 Abrams came hurtling through the sky towards him. Suddenly he felt something slam into the side of him and he was thrown to the floor. Looking up he saw it was Stitch.  
"GET DOWN!" The medic cried as the tank stuck nearby and exploded, engulfing the man in the fireball. In a split second, he was gone.

….

Dusty watched the tank explode near the team and started to sprint towards them alongside Boone. Shutting out everything else, he focused on reaching the others when suddenly something fell from the sky with an immense boom. The blast knocked Dusty off of his feet, throwing him back as dust flared up. Rolling onto his back, he looked around and saw that the massive object had landed right were Boone had last been, surely crushing the squadmate.

The object was a gigantic clawed foot, resembling that of a dinosaurs' only much, much larger. Following the leg up into the air, Dusty stared up to see the creature standing tall over him, roaring. Levelling his rifle, Dusty held down the trigger and fired up at the immense beast. One of the heads twirled on its' neck and looked down at him, black eyes glowing with fury as the monster hissed.

Scrambling to his feet, Dusty took off running again, sprinting all out for the cover of the vehicle building where the others were. Putting the monster behind him, he ran for his life, pelting behind the rows of tanks to catch up with Cade. The team took shelter behind a pair of APCs and began shouting to each other.  
"I swear it saw me, man!" Dusty called out. "It looked right at me!"  
"What are we gonna do?!" Someone else shouted.

Rook pointed off the end of the nearby pier, where a small Navy Patrol boat had run aground.  
"There!" He pointed, "We can get our way out of here!"  
Cade acknowledged, pointing to the patrol boat.  
"Everyone, lets' go! Let's go!" He shouted, launching up onto his feet.

As the others reached the patrol boat and began climbing aboard, Cade turned back to the base, which was now in flames. He watched in horror as the monster smashed through the hangars and made its' way towards the airfield.  
The whirring of rotor blades caught his attention and he looked up to see a burning helicopter spinning out of control as it plummeted out of the air towards him. Spinning on his heel, Cade took off running towards the boat, reaching the edge of the pier, he jumped as hard as he could, pulling himself into the air as a wave of heat washed over his back when the helicopter exploded on the ground behind him, sending the Master Chief hurtling through the air.

Landing hard on the deck of the patrol boat he roared in pain and rolled onto his back. The boats' engine grumbled as it quickly pulled away from Fort Letchi.

….

"Sir, we have to evacuate now!" One of the junior officers called out from the doorway as Major Gordon looked on out of the window. The creature swung a long clawed arm at one of the Globemasters on the runway, tearing the aircraft clean in two and sending debris flying in every direction. The tail fin of the plane came loose and rocketed into the sky towards the command tower.  
"My God!" Major Gordon managed to stutter before the tail collided with the command tower and the Control Centre was blasted into a million pieces.

….

"Holy Shit…" Rook said astonished as the small patrol boat passed the burning wreck of the USS _McCampbell_. The ship had been torn apart and was slowly sinking beneath the waves. Split in two, the ship slowly went down with her bow and stern both pointed high into the sky.

Cade could barely comprehend what had just happened, his heart still pounding in his chest as they headed as fast as possible away from the ruins of Fort Letchi.

* * *

 **Back again. Yeah I think the heads gave away who it is.  
I wanted the destruction of Fort Letchi to kind of mirror Blackout destroying the army base in Qatar in the first Transformers movie, especially with the Globemasters getting rekt.  
Also as little nod to the Showa Era, the name of the Fort is the same as the island from Ebirah: Horror of the Deep. ( _Yeah that Masterpiece_ )**

 **sorry this one was a little late thought I had posted it when I hadn't**


	4. 3: World's Biggest Secret

Chapter 3: The world's biggest secret

Cade was staring blankly out at the morning sea when the engine of the patrol boat finally sputtered and died, leaving the remaining members of Alpha Six adrift.  
"Great!" Stump shouted from the bridge, "Now what?"

Rook sat up, looking over to the others,  
"Are we even going to ask what the fuck that thing was?!" He asked aloud. He was right. The team had ben sat in silence for well over six hours.  
"Hell if I know." Dusty replied, "I ain't an expert on giant monsters."

"We lost Stitch and Boone." Cade finally spoke up, his voice solemn and dreary. He clicked his fingers, "Gone. Like that."

He turned his head and looked back out to sea.

….  
Another two hours had passed and Cade was drifting off to sleep when Rook suddenly launched to his feet next to him, hollering and jumping up and down. Looking up, Cade saw the others quickly do the same as they waved to a passing helicopter. It was a tiny black dot in the blue sky, though as minutes past and the team continued to shout and whistle, it quickly grew closer and closer until it was hovering above them.

It was a UH-60 Black Hawk, however it wasn't adorned in military markings. The vehicle was an unusual matte black. The vehicle let down a pair of ropes for the men to climb aboard and one at a time they did so. Making sure he was the last on, Cade checked the patrol boat for any useful supplied before climbing the rope. Hauling himself onto the floor of the chopper he noticed at last an insignia on the side of the helicopter: a white globe with wings and the words: Division Three.

…..

Some time had passed since their rescue. The team had been brought aboard an Aircraft Carrier out in the Sea of Japan; the USS _Ronald Reagan_. As commanding officer of Alpha Six, Cade had been separated from the others, placed in a small dark briefing room where he had been left alone for almost an hour.

He wondered where his team was; if they were alright. Something caught his eye when the door opened nearby and a figure stepped in. The dark blue digital camouflage uniform indicated he was a high ranking naval officer and Cade jumped to his feet.  
"At ease, Master Chief." The officer said.

"Permission to ask what is going on, sir?" Cade asked him, standing relieved. The older man shook his head grimly before turning to hold the door open for a handful of officials to enter. Black suits and uniforms, they were a mix of military and government types, which made Cade even more confused and unsettled.  
"Have a seat, Mr Matkovic." One of the officials said, sitting down himself. Cade found a seat at the long briefing table and lowered down. The others took out papers and laptops and began to work away as two officers began to set up an old film projector. Clicking the film reels into place, they shone the projector onto the back wall as a final figure entered the room.

The old Asian man walked with a cane, yet his stride seemed very impressive for a man who looked about eighty.  
"You probably have a lot of questions." He said calmly. The man seemed to have the relaxed demeanour of a friendly relative as he smiled. He was very old, dark grey hair whitening at the edges as a pair of glasses sat on the end of his nose, just above a thin silver moustache.  
"My name is Gendo Yamane, I'm the Director of Division Three. I'm here to talk to you about what attacked Fort Letchi."

"The animal that attacked the fort is an ancient creature Division Three has spent the last decade trying to track." The others murmured in approval and agreement. "Named Ghidorah, the creature is far older than mankind, dating back to prehistoric times."  
This was all too much for Cade. _Prehistoric Monsters? What the fuck?_  
"However, Ghidorah is not alone. There is another; One far larger and more powerful."

He nodded to one of the others who pressed play on the film and the footage began to roll in the background.  
"Have you ever heard of the Castle Bravo Nuclear Test?" Yamane asked calmly.  
Cade shook his head,  
"I'm not that much of a history buff, sir." He said flatly.

Yamane gestured to the film. It was old black and white military footage presumably from the forties or fifties. Old crackly military music echoed through the room from the speakers as the footage rolled.  
"Castle Bravo was one of many nuclear weapons tests conducted in the pacific in the years after World War Two." He explained, setting aside his cane as he leaned against the wall next to the projector screen. "The explosion was over a thousand times larger than the ones in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite massive public outcry, the tests continued. However, they were not tests…" Yamane straightened,  
"They were trying to kill _It_."

Yamane stopped for a moment for the film to roll as Cade looked on completely perplexed. Eventually, the film showed the nuclear bomb go off, sending a massive white mushroom cloud into the grey sky. The old man paused and rewound the footage to as the bomb first detonated, casting shadows over the islands of Bikini Atoll. Frame by frame, Yamane played the footage back, pointing out as a large black shape launched out of the water not far from the explosion's epicentre.  
" _Him_."

Yamane stated pointing out the rows of jagged spines rising from the water. Cade could make out a squarish, armour-plated head and upper snout coming out of the waves.

" _A monster…_ " Cade finally managed to speak, fear and confusion gripping his body.  
"More than a monster." Yamane corrected him. " _A God._ This specimen was first encountered on the Coast of Odo Island in 1911, terrorising the local villagers." Yamane eyed the other members of the conference, "From our estimates, he stands in the range of Two-Hundred to Two-Hundred-and-Thirty metres tall."  
"We believe he is some kind of Super Predator." One of the officials said to Cade.  
"A force of nature, whose sole purpose is to restore balance." Another added.

"As it turned out, the beast had a cultural history on the island; believed to be a sea demon that came ashore to prey on man." Yamane continued, "When naming the creature, Division Three adopted the name the villagers had given him." He looked Cade dead in the eyes, his tone flat and serious,  
"We call him…. _Godzilla_."

It was time for Cade to ask the big question.  
"Wait, so this entire time you've been hiding this from the world?" He asked. "Why didn't you just kill it?"  
One of the officials shook their head.  
"You don't think we tried?" He leaned in across the table to the SEAL. "Nothing we have has ever had any effect on them. It is pretty much impossible." He gestured to the film again.

Yamane picked up his cane again and began to walk towards the end of the table,  
"Your team are the only survivors of the attack on Fort Letchi." He explained. That hit hard. "Ghidorah quickly disappeared shortly after without a trace." He turned back to the projector screen as another official held another image under the light.

This one was more modern, it was a colour aerial photo of the fort. The facility was a smouldering ruin with plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. Yamane pointed out a dark shape about a mile off of the edge of the base.  
"This photo was taken two hours ago. _That_ is Godzilla." He looked back to Cade again, "We believe He is hunting Ghidorah. If it is possible for these creatures to be killed; Godzilla would likely be capable of this."

Someone turned the projector off and the room was plunged into blackness as the officials began to pack away their things and get to their feet to leave.  
"This world is not ours." Yamane said in closing, eyes locked with Cades' still. "It was only a matter of time before _they_ surfaced again to take it back."

….

Cade's head was throbbing as two guards escorted him out into the corridor. So much information had been blasted at him so quickly he could barely even grasp most of the implications of what he had been told. Running a hand through his hair, he walked down the corridor grumbling when a familiar bearded face turned out from one of the rooms further down. Dusty. The SEAL smiled when he saw him, waling over with his hands in his pockets.  
"Long time no see, brother." The man said.

"Where are the others?" Cade asked, looking over Dusty's shoulder in hopes of seeing Rook or Stump. The Junior Lieutenant shook his head,  
"They're being shipped off to Yokosuka." He explained, "Lucky bastards are getting extended leave if they keep quiet: Turns out Big Mr Division Three has a job for us two though."

Cade raised an eyebrow, concerned but interested.  
"What do you mean?"

"They're sending us out to Osaka to meet with some high ranking executive guy." Dusty clearly didn't seem too pleased. "We gotta give a full debrief to him."  
Fantastic. More paperwork.

….

It was nightfall again by the time the plane landed in Osaka. Among others, Cade and Dusty were aboard the C-130 cargo plane when its' wheels touched down at Osaka International. Disembarking, they followed their escorts through security before finally being left alone at the exit of the airport.

"Huh, no more government spooks breathing down our necks?" Dusty remarked, shouldering his duffel bag.  
"Guess not." Cade said, taking out a map on his phone. "We're meeting with Admiral Davis in a conference hall at the uh… _Shin Umeda?_ " He struggled to see the tiny text on his phone, struggling to pronounce what he could barely even read off of the map. "It's right on the other goddamn end of town!"  
Dusty took off across the street with a brisk stride,  
"We double-time it, then. Taxi or bus?"  
The Master Chief shrugged indecisively, picking up his own duffel bag and beginning to walk to keep pace with his teammate.

Cade smirked at how out of place they were in the busy evening street. They sure as hell weren't local and they definitely didn't look like a happy family on vacation. They had traded in their combat gear for civilian clothes; Cade in a red checked shirt and jeans while Dusty simply had a jet black t-shirt and camouflage trousers. For once, Dusty had his NYC baseball cap the right way round, its' peak facing forwards, as opposed to shielding the back of his neck. His beard still pissed Cade off. Sure it wasn't military standard and any Drill Instructor would chew him out for it if he were still in bootcamp, yet the higher ups weren't particularly interested. If he remembered correctly, Dusty first adopted his beard during their first tour in Afghanistan as a sign of respect and comradery with the local militia who fought alongside them against the Taliban. He had kept it ever since.

Up ahead, Cade saw a sign for a bus stop with a handful of people stood by it. He knew very little Japanese, but it was hardly like the sign meant anything other than 'bus stop'.  
"You still got the cash we were given?" Dusty asked. Cade fumbled through his pockets for a moment, finding the small handful of Yen crumpled at the bottom of his left pocket. It was about the equivalent of a hundred bucks.

Lifting the money out of his pocket, he handed it to Dusty, opening his mouth to say something when the ground suddenly shook violently. Thrown off balance, Cade clung to a nearby wall as several people screamed and yelped as they hit the floor in panic and confusion. There was a seconds' delay before a second Thump shook the earth and a horrific realisation came to the SEALs' mind. Looking up to the skyline, Cade flinched when a giant dark shape moved overhead, whipping about in the air before vanishing behind a nearby building as a familiar cackling sound could be heard. Ghidorah was in Osaka.

All sense of normalcy crumbled away in an instant as panic swept over the crowd as an outright stampede pounded down the narrow streets. Gunshots and explosions could be heard as local authorities engaged the massive beast which had just begun to lay siege to the city.  
"COME ON!" Dusty's voice roared over the chaos, "THIS WAY!" Dropping his duffel bag, Cade followed his teammate down the crowded sidewalk, diving into a nearby open shop stall to take shelter until the gridlock had died down.

Several others in the store screamed and cried out in terror, ducking down by store shelves and under tables. Dusty went up to an older-looking man who appeared to be the shop owner.  
"Is there a door out the back?" The SEAL asked him, struggling in the translation. Meanwhile, Cade looked to a television on the counter which was playing; showing live news footage of the attack. Ghidorah was perched atop of a building nearby, hissing and shrieking into the night sky. Two jets screamed past and the monster roared at them, clambering down the far side of the building to the streets. The ground shook violently as Cade turned to look out of the window. The building was titling left, the immense superstructure crumbling as it was poised to collapse.  
"Hurry up!" He shouted, "The goddamn building's about to come down on top of us!"

The shopkeeper began to nod frantically, pointing to the back of the store,  
"Y-yes! There's a door!" He said, taking a large bundle of keys out his pocket. The man fumbled with them for a moment, trying to find the right one. Dusty simply brushed past the man, taking a short run up before kicking the door as hard as he could.  
BAM!  
BAM!

BAM!  
At the third kick, the wood began to splinter as the lock broke out of the wall and the door flung open on its; hinges. It led out to a backstreet, which on a left turn led back out to a subway entrance. The group made a desperate B-Line for the subway entrance, quickly melting back into the crowds of terrified people all swarming to the underground shelter.

* * *

 **AYYY  
So yeah I'm kinda going the G14 route where Godzilla is an ancient god-like monster as opposed to the radioactive horror. This helps go down the way to justify different monsters as opposed to multiple convinent nuclear accidents creating loads of different creatures  
Stay tuned**


	5. 4: Osaka Burns

Chapter 4: Osaka Burns

Cade quickly lost Dusty and the shopkeeper in the crowd as he headed for the entrance when he bumped into a petrified couple who were stood still in the moving mass of people. They were screaming and shouting in terror, calling out to someone who must have been missing. As he approached the two, the woman looked to him, eyes wide.  
"Please help us!" She begged, "Our daughter!"

That struck home for Cade as he immediately began to look round for a small child. Several blocks away a handful of cars had stopped as their drivers had ditched them, leaving the abandoned vehicles as obstacles for the fleeing people on foot. One of them was a taxi, crashed into the rear end of some old Toyota sedan. Squinting, he could see movement beside the taxi. It was a small girl about four of five years old, clearly terrified out of her wits and frozen in place crying aloud.

Cade grabbed the man's shoulder, pointing to the taxi.  
"Is that her?!" He asked, having to shout over the crowds.  
The strangers' eyes lit up with hope as ne nodded frantically,  
"Yes! That's her!" He began to wave and try and catch her attention but to no avail. Cade grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes,  
"Go to the subway and find shelter: I'm going to get her."  
As he pushed away towards the child the two parents began to thank him in Japanese as the current of people began to push them further towards the subway.

It was almost impossible to fight against the seemingly infinite stream of people. Pushing and shoving, Cade forced his way closer and closer as the dark shadow of the crumbling building loomed overhead. He would have to hurry.

Bursting past a group of screeching teens, Cade finally reached the two crashed cars, sliding over the hood of the taxi to the girl.  
"It's okay!" He said, lifting her up. "I'm going to take you to your parents!" The tiny girl nodded, wiping tears away, somewhat getting the message. "Just hang on!" He said. Immediately she clutched to him in a death grip.

Above them, the building was about to give way. Looking back across the street to the subway entrance, Cade knew there was no time. He would have to improvise. Turning the other way, he started running as fast as he possibly could. His legs burned like hell as he didn't dare stop. Rounding a corner, he came across an abandoned restaurant. The doors were still open.

Double timing it, Cade burst into the building and into the kitchen. Eyes darting about for a solution, he saw the metal door of a meat locker and dashed towards it. As he entered, he set the girl down on the floor when the screams from outside were suddenly drowned out by a tremendous _CRASH_.

Through the open restaurant, Cade watched in horror as the building went down, flattening fleeing people as a blast wave of brown dust hurtled towards them at lightning speed. Grabbing the meat locker door, he pulled it with all his might, just managing to close it before the dust cloud tore through the restaurant and slammed against the other side of the silver metal door, casting the meat locker into total darkness.

….

The _Bingo Maru_ was one of many cargo ships out in the port of Osaka. On the ship's bridge, the crew looked on in pure terror and confusion as Ghidorah slowly tore the city apart. Slamming itself into buildings, the creature brought down entire skyscrapers with ease.  
The _Bingo's_ Captain observed the carnage through his binoculars, which trembled in his shaking hands. Lowering them, he was about to muter something when he felt the ship lurch forward in the water, sending him slamming into the console hard.

Groaning in pain, he stood up, turning over his shoulder as a younger first mate shouted out to him, pointing at the ship's radar console. As the Captain set his eyes on it, it appeared to be in working order at first. It seemed as if nothing was wrong until the device spun round a second time, revealing a massive blip to the ships' stern, quickly closing in.

Racing to the nearest window, the Captain looked out as the object sailed through the water upriver, shoving the massive container ship aside as several rows of jagged spikes slowly began to rise out of the water as the object began to surface.

….

Inside one of the nearby buildings, two people were helloing a third co-worker onto their feet. Easing the weight off of the mans' injured leg, they tried to hobble him to the stairs when something huge passed the window outside, blocking out any light and plunging the office into black.

….

A dozen or so people were trapped in a nearby suburb, screaming in horror as Ghidorah tore apart a building nearby. Pointing to the monster and crying out in terror, they began to back away when a truly gigantic shape landed behind them. The boom was loud enough to seemingly cast the entire city into silence. It was a gigantic reptilian foot. Much larger and stubbier than Ghidorah's, it sported five curled claws which dug into the asphalt.

All eyes were on the shape as it reared its' head. Only a silhouette through the dust and smoke, the shape stood facing Ghidorah, who turned to hiss at the new threat. Stepping out of the smoke, the creature was a huge lumbering beast somewhat resembling a dinosaur, only much, much larger, towering above the surrounding buildings. Deep-set golden eyes flared up as it locked eyes with Ghidorah. Leaning back as it inhaled, the shape bulked itself up as it summed up immense strength in its' body. Throwing its head back, its' jaws parted and an ear-splitting roar boomed, shattering windows up and down the city, echoing out for miles; letting the whole world know that The King had returned...  
 _SSKKKRRRREEEOOONNNKKKK  
_ Godzilla had arrived.

Almost immediately, Ghidorah went on the offensive, launching itself at Godzilla. The monster took the attack head on, allowing the attacking beast to slam into him and drive Godzilla back over. Massive heavy feet tore up entire blocks as Godzilla grinded to a halt. One of Ghidorah's heads bit into Godzilla's neck and he howled in pain, swatting the head aside. Claws swiping, Godzilla slashed back, catching the other monster under the chest and sending it hurtling backwards into the river. Waves slammed against the banks of the river as Ghidorah landed backwards. The dragon was quickly back on his feet, roaring at Godzilla with all three heads as the king closed in. The two beasts clashed again and tumbled sideways, smashing through a pair of bridges crossing the river. The concrete structure of the motorway shattered, casting debris over the railway bridge right next to it. Both gave way as the monsters burst through, fighting up the river back into the North West end of the city.

More buildings were levelled as Godzilla and Ghidorah viciously battled, trampling the cluttered streets below them. Himejima Station was crushed as Ghidorah swung out hit tail under Godzilla's legs, sending him crashing to the ground and flattening the train station. Sitting up, Godzilla lashed out with a tail strike, catching the three headed dragon off guard. Ghidorah staggered back from the strike, slowly beginning to back off as he sensed the danger Godzilla posed.

….

From within the meat locker, Cade could hear everything as the pair of Giant Monsters fought. The ground shuddered with each hit as the SEAL realised they were getting closer. Whatever was going on out there, they were moving more inland towards them.

Rushing over, he picked up the girl and got to his feet. Forcing open the meat locker door, he looked around to see that the front half of the restaurant was completely gone. In its' place was a mess of broken wood and brick with tables and chairs scattered about.  
 _SKREONK_

A huge shadow loomed over the restaurant as Godzilla's tail flicked high into the air above them, the segmented armor plates on it locking into each other as it curled inwards and away. The girl screamed and Cade pulled her closer to his chest, an arm around to protect her head. Eyes darting he searched for the entrance to the subway. It was some way beyond the street, except now most of the street was a three metre high wall of rubble from the building that had collapsed. Turning back to the fighting monsters, Cade had to make another split second decision. Run for it.

Running, he darted for the rubble and began to scramble up the massive wall of broken concrete and brick. " _Kowaidesu!"_ The girl whimpered clinging to Cades' shirt. He assumed that mean _"I'm scared!"_

"Its' okay!" He replied, trying to calm the kid down, "You just gotta be brave a little longer!" He reassured the child, forcing himself up over the remains of what appeared to be the remains of the lobby outside of an office.

Reaching the other side, it was a steep drop back down to the street. Cade began to cautiously clamber down when he heard Godzilla roar behind them. Looking over his shoulder he watched as the giant shape blocked out the night sky falling towards them. Jumping, Cade seemed to float in mid-air for a second, the wave of dust slamming into his back and launching him forwards as he jumped off of the rubble.

It felt as though his knees had been hit with a sledgehammer when he landed. Crying out in pain, he dropped to his knees, making sure the girl did not touch the floor. Staggering to his feet as he gritted his teeth, Cade could make out the stairway down into the subway and began to limp towards it. When he reached the top, he looked down to see the steep stairs go down and turn right down into the underground. Watching his footing, the SEAL made his way down the stairs and eventually staggered out onto the platform.

There was about a hundred people all huddled for shelter around the platform, in and around one of the stopped trains. Cade set the girl down and she stared up at him, managing a weak smile.  
"You did good, kid." He said, panting as he brushed dust off of her face, "Lets' go find your mom and dad."

After a few minutes of wandering around the platform, the two stopped as a couple nearby launched to their feet and started running towards them.  
"Emiko!" The woman shouted, rushing over to the child with her husband close behind.  
"Mama! Papa!" The girl called back, taking off towards them, leaving the limping Cade behind her. The three immediately huddled and hugged, crying with joy as the girl buried her face in her mothers' shoulder. The man looked over to Cade as he walked by.  
"T-Thank you!" He said, smiling widely, "Thank you!"  
"No problem." Cade replied, leaving. He never saw them again.

"Cade!" A deep, familiar American voice boomed over the subway. Turning, Cade saw Dusty walking towards him, grinning. "You crazy sonofabitch!" The SEAL greeted him, patting Cade on the shoulder.  
"Just doing what's right." the Master Chief replied, shrugging it off. "So do we try and wait this out?" He asked.

"I guess so." Dusty answered, looking around at the others as they listened to the battle raging above their heads. "I guess so…"

….

Godzilla roared again, slamming one of Ghidorah's heads into the wall of a building. Windows shattered and brick crumbled as the reptilian skull exploded through four rooms, burying deep into it. Stepping back, Godzilla was about to make another move when Ghidorah's middle head slashed at his face, temporarily stunning the king. Squealing, Godzilla stumbled backwards, clutching his face as the dragon fought to break free of the building. Tearing its' head out of the roof, Ghidorah flexed the muscles on its' neck, briefly cracking it to ensure it was still functioning before turning back to Godzilla.

The pair of curved spikes on Ghidorah's back began to peel back, opening up as dark red flesh was exposed in the light of hundreds of fires. The structures suddenly flicked open like massive sheets, revealing a new pair of massive arms with heavy membrane-like flaps.  
Wings.

Ghidorah began to swoop the new limbs, causing huge gusts of air to batter the city. They began to beat faster and faster until the monster lifted off of the ground. Roaring a final time, the three headed dragon blasted himself up, disappearing into the night sky in a matter of seconds, leaving Godzilla stood alone as Osaka burned.

Roaring in defiance, Godzilla tracked the tiny dot of Ghidorah in the sky, watching its' direction as he headed back to sea. Wading into the bay as the water got deeper, Godzilla threw himself forward and melted into the ocean. His dorsal fin-like spines cutting through the water as he swam out to sea in pursuit.

It was over. For now.

* * *

 **And the King has been revealed at last. I wanted to try and bring across the sheer scale and awe of the monsters, especially Godzilla through ways like the whole area falling silent as everyone turns to see the big guy when he arrives and contrasting to the perspective of the tiny people looking up at him, though I really tried to avoid the Gareth Edwards school of revealing Monsters where you don't get to see jack shit because of too many cutaways.  
Yeah this is basically G14 with less cocktease.  
Also hardcore fans of the '54 film may remember the Bingo Maru being one of the ships that Godzilla destroys at the start.**


	6. 5: Drawing Together A Plan

Chapter 5: Drawing together a plan

The meeting room was incredibly busy. Dozens of officials worked around the long wooden table in the centre of the room. Papers stacked miles high among clipboards, calculators and iPhones. Meechum stood at the foot of the table, running a hand through his hair. He had been in the meeting for three and a half hours without rest. Sweat poured down his face and he had ditched his jacket. His tie was also missing as he searched around the table for ideas.  
"What about focussing on social media campaigns. Especially if I'm trying to appeal to younger voters."

The idea set off a murmur of discussion and approval. One member of his staff spoke up,  
"We still need to prioritise television, though." Keith explained, "The Democrats have crushed in every election with their TV ads." The staff member pointed to one of the videos playing in the background. It was an _Anthony Nolte for Senate_ ad from back in the last mid-term. The video depicted the smooth-talking Utahan Progressive sat on the steps of the state capitol building dropping policy-bomb after policy bomb. Their cowboy hat-toting evangelical never stood a chance in that race.

Meechum nodded, drawing attention to Keith's point.  
"Exactly. We need to go all-out on this, -just bring in a tidal wave of ads across every single platform." He picked up one of the handfuls of paper next to him, pointing to it. "Shoot from the hip, folks. That's how we win. Come across as human; ditch all of that formal-speaker-well-respected-gentleman crap." Larry Meechum was known for his more unconventional approach to politics.

Rachel was taking notes on a laptop. She had shared the document with Keith and he was also typing, adding additional content below her own. Her hands were a blur of motion on the keypad as she blasted in bullet point after bullet point. Rachel was making sure to get down anything useful for their next meeting after his speech. Looking around the meeting room, she could see the stacked cardboard boxes and files. Only the bare essentials were left on the table as once Meechum finished his speech, they would be heading back to Washington, stopping off in Iowa first to further tease his campaign.

There was a knock at the door and a handful of security agents entered. They were the Vice President's security detail. Rachel knew them well. Mendoza, Stambler and their lead; Sullivan.  
"Mr Vice President, may we have a word." The team lead said flatly, folding his arms in front of him as he stopped in the middle of the room. Despite their impossible to read faces, Rachel knew something was serious. Larry calmly replied and they headed out of the room. Several minutes passed before Keith spoke up, pushing away from the table,  
"I say we give it a break. We can finish this on the flight to Iowa." He said before downing the last of his coffee.

Yawning, Rachel took out her phone and went into her settings. It was a common agreement of the staff to turn off their notifications to avoid any distractions during meetings. Tapping the blue slider, she turned on her notifications and immediately her feed was flooded with news headlines.  
 _Attack in Japan: Hundreds dead or missing…  
Japanese PM releases statement on Osaka Attack…  
search parties starting up in Osaka…  
Osaka….  
Osaka…  
Attack….  
Monster?_

A cold shiver ran down Rachel's spine as she read the headlines, quickly growing more anxious as she tried to figure out what had happened in Japan. It was at that moment that Meechum came back into the room, visibly unsettled. All eyes in the meeting room were on him as he struggled to speak.  
"People… f-forget the meeting. Just go home….w-watch the news." He stuttered, "This is serious."  
Immediately staff began to fil out of the meeting room, folding up laptops and grabbing handfuls of papers. Keith passed Rachel, slinging his jacket over his shoulder as he left. Rachel got up to do the same when Meechum asked for her to stay.  
What the hell was going on?

"Osaka wasn't the only place that was attacked." He said solemnly, "A few hours earlier, Fort Letchi took a hit: Cade was stationed there if I remember."  
Rachel's heart stopped.  
"I'm sorry." Meechum said, eyes moving to the floor.

Feeling as though she was about to collapse, she staggered backwards, finding support against the back wall of the meeting room. Tears began to well in her eyes.

"Can you give us a minute?" Meechum asked to Sullivan. The agent reluctantly complied and took a step back as he passed him back into the room to comfort his chief of staff.  
"I honestly have no idea what to say…" He muttered shaking his head.

"It's okay, Larry." She brushed it off, "I-I just…" Rachel broke down into tears.  
 _You can't be dead, Cade!_ She thought, _there has to be some way you're still alive…_

….

Several military figures stood around the briefing table in the bridge of the _Ronald Reagan_. Among them were Admiral Davis and Director Yamane.

"So one of these things is capable of flight?" Davis asked, gesturing to the footage of Ghidorah taking flight. Yamane nodded, comparing the footage to earlier mages that had been taken in previous encounters.  
"That explains how he was able to hop from location to location so quickly."

"Surely we would have seen him before though." Davis questioned, "A satellite or a drone would have picked him up."  
Yamane went silent, observing the pictures for a brief moment.  
"What if Ghidorah possesses some kind of natural scrambling device? That way he would go undetected."  
Davis nodded,  
"That makes sense. That would push us to relying on visual confirmation only."

Yamane stepped back from the table, looking to the window as he pieced together his theory.  
"Admiral, I need you to check the records again. See if the satellite footage picked up any other signs from Ghidorah; radioactive, thermal; anything."  
Davis acknowledged and approached another Lieutenant, dishing out orders to check the information when a younger ensign called out to him.

"Admiral! We have a visual on Godzilla." He said. In an instant, Davis was over at the man's console as he began to explain the new development to the Admiral.  
"The _Fitzgerald_ spotted him by Mikurajima and is breaking patrol to follow."  
"Are they engaged?" Davis questioned,  
"Negative, sir. They say he is ignoring their pursuit. Target is heading East across the Pacific."

Admiral Davis looked across the bridge to Yamane, who was stood patiently, his cane planted between his feet. They both knew what that meant. Godzilla must be following Ghidorah. Davis turned to the crew stood by the _Reagan_ 's wheel.  
"Make a course to catch up with the USS _Fitzgerald_. Full speed." As they set to work and the massive carrier began to set sail, he looked back to the ensign by the console. "Patch me through to the _Fitz._ "  
The younger officer nodded and began to turn dials and flip switches on the console, earphone pressed into his ear.

….

The USS _Fitzgerald_ , DDG-62, nicknamed the " _Fightin' Fitz_ " was a 505 foot-long Arleigh-Burke-Class Destroyer. The warship cut through the water at full speed, sailing straight across the Pacific; well off of its' pre-planned patrol route. Several kilometres ahead of the _Fitzgerald_ , off to the port side, the giant dorsal spikes of Godzilla protruded from the water as the beast swam along.

Captain Alexandre Rubin was commanding officer of the _Fitzgerald_. Aboard the bridge, he stood by the window, binoculars up to his eyes as he observed Godzilla. One of the bridge crew got his attention and he lowered the binoculars, taking the radio receiver from the officer.  
"Admiral Davis. We're in pursuit of Godzilla now. I hear you are en route?"  
"Affirmative, Captain. We have reason to believe the Target is in pursuit of the second, callsign; Ghidorah."

Rubin nodded,  
"Solid copy, Admiral. We have Godzilla on sonar so if he dives we can keep track of him. We'll see you soon. Rubin out."  
Handing the ensign back the receiver as he cut the comms, Captain Rubin went back to watching Godzilla. The animal was truly immense. The creature's tail alone was longer than the _Fitzgerald._ Rubin hoped that the Division Three spooks were right and that Godzilla was not a hostile target, he dared not think how much damage the beast would cause setting foot in another populated city.

….

"What do we do now?" Yamane asked, taking a seat. It was safe to say his age was catching up with him as he sighed painfully, easing himself into the chair as he set his cane aside.

It was dark outside again now as the _Reagan_ was almost halfway across the Pacific. They had recently caught up with the _Fitzgerald_ and Godzilla and the two ships were following close behind the behemoth.  
Admiral Davis gulped down some more coffee, grumbling to himself.  
"Based on the calculations, Ghidorah should still be in the rough trajectory ahead of Godzilla."

"Admiral!" A different ensign spoke up as he stepped aboard the bridge with several pictures. Setting them down on the table, the three men studied them. One of the pictures was a map of the Pacific with the trajectory of Ghidorah's possible location. The next was a series of Thermal imaging screenshots, showing the usual blips of red and orange around a dark blue ocean. Nothing of importance so far.

The next set of images were readings of various electromagnetic signals across the ocean. The ensign pointed out on the first one the unusual glitch-like scrambling over Japan.  
"This was Ghidorah 24 hours ago." He explained, setting out the next few pictures, showing the blip gradually make its' way across the pacific. The last image showed the blip crossing near Hawaii.  
"The last image was taken two minutes ago, Sir."

"What are the chances Ghidorah is heading for the mainland US?" The Admiral asked the ensign.  
"Almost guaranteed. We believe he will make landfall on the West Coast in approximately six hours' time." Davis swore to himself, dropping his head.  
"I'll need to get on the line with the Secretary of Defence. He'll pass it on up the ladder." He looked around at the others at the table. "This is a worst case scenario gentleman. In the meantime, I want contact with Honolulu. They'll send a fighter detachment to try and engage Ghidorah."

Sirens and klaxons began to blare as lights flashed and the bridge suddenly came alive.  
"Sir, Godzilla's diving!" One of the officers called out, pointing out to the window. Davis strode over, watching as the monster's back curled up into the air, quickly sliding back down beneath the waves, the dorsal spines slowly vanishing one by one. The tip of the monster's tail thrashed at the surface for a moment before also disappearing into the black water.  
"Do we have him on sonar?" Davis asked.  
"Yes, sir." One of the bridge crew replied, "He's descending to two hundred and fifty metres. We're tracking him."

…..

Rachel lay fat on her bed in the hotel room, eyes glued to the CNN report on the devastation in Osaka. It was her last night in San Francisco before the flight to Iowa after Larry's speech. However, after what had happened earlier in the day, it was obvious he was no longer going to be spewing political rhetoric, but instead addressing the crisis directly.

The woman couldn't believe what she was seeing. The report played back footage that had occurred the night before, showing aerial footage of two titanic monsters slamming themselves against each other, knocking down entire skyscrapers as if they were nothing. It was a true spectacle; something that belonged in a blockbuster action movie, not real life. Rachel lay awestruck at the footage as the two creatures burst through a bridge crossing the river, snapping it into as they collapsed into the water, slashing at each other furiously.

If one of them had attacked Fort Letchi, she was sure that no one could have survived. That hurt like nothing else. Cade couldn't be dead. Not like that. There had to be some way that he was alive.

A knock at the door caught her attention and Rachel was drawn out of her paralysed state. Getting up, she muted the TV and answered the door. It was Larry.  
"May I come in?" He asked politely.

She led him in and he took a seat on the side of the bed. He looked worried. Worried for her.  
"Rachel, as soon as we get back to Washington, I'm going to have people comb over every detail about Fort Letchi for you." He explained, "We'll find Cade. I just can't promise you we'll find him alive."

The Chief of Staff managed a weak smile,  
"Thanks." She mumbled. "Can I get you anything? Some coffee, maybe a soda?"  
Meechum shook his head,  
"Nah I'm okay thanks. I just want you to know if things turn out for the worst; I'm here for you." Rachel could see in his eyes that he was serous as a brief silence fell over them.  
Something must have clicked inside the Vice President's mind as his face suddenly went bright red.  
"Oh God! Not in _That way…_ " He must have assumed she thought he wanted an affair with her. "I didn't mean it like that if it came across like that." He explained. Meechum ran his hands through his hair, moaning aloud in embarrassment. "You've been a close friend for years, Rachel. I just wanted to return the favour."

"Thanks, Larry." Rachel replied, her smile growing into a grin. "You'd better get some rest. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."  
Meechum agreed. Getting up, he said his farewells and walked off down the hall, waving off Sullivan and Mendoza. As he reached the elevator the two secret service agents followed him in. Rachel saw them off before going back to her room. Turning the volume back up on the TV, she slumped back onto the bed and continued watching the news.


	7. 6: Engagement Over The Pacific

Chapter 6: Engagement Over the pacific

Cade slowly awoke to the drumming of propeller engines. Gradually emerging from his sleep, he eased open his eyes and looked around. The sight of the inside of a cargo plane jogged his memory. After being rescued in Osaka, he and Dusty were being shipped back to the US on extended leave for their actions helping the civilians out of the subway.

Sitting up, he looked past the several humvees that had been lashed down to the floor of the aircraft. Dusty was talking to one of the flight crew near the door to the cockpit. Undoing his seatbelt, Cade got up and walked over, his legs still numb from a mix of his sleep and being seated for so long.

"Sleepin' Beauty awakens!" Dusty joked, remarking the SEAL as he approached. "Doesn't the Prince need to kiss you first?" Cade flipped him off.  
"How long left until we land?" He asked. Dusty shrugged, looking to the flight crewman.

"About twenty minutes or so." The man replied. He was an older man in his early forties. Cade remembered him from when they first took off. Captain … _?_ For some reason his name escaped him. The man was an experienced pilot; they shared stories when Cade and Dusty first boarded. The crewman flew a patrol in Operation Desert Storm and survived being shot down in a friendly fire accident in Africa.

Cade felt the plane rumble as it banked left in the turbulence. Turning away as Dusty and the Crewman went back to their conversation, he looked out of one of the nearby windows. It was hard to see anything with the wing of the aircraft blocking up most of the view. It was a pale blue sky of early morning with a couple of clouds flying past. Squinting, Cade could just make out the ocean far below them. They were landing at Hawaii temporarily to refuel before heading back to the mainland. That was good. At least Cade could get some fresh air before another few hour's flight. He would also need to find a phone to call Rachel to let her know he was okay.

The door to the cockpit opened and a figure emerged; one of the C-130's pilots. Making his way down the steps to the cargo hold, he got the other Crewman's attention and they headed back to the cockpit, leaving Dusty stood confused for a moment. The two SEALs shrugged to each other before Cade headed back to his seat. As he slumped down into the uncomfortable aircraft seat, he grumbled to himself, sinking his head into his hands. Dusty's attention was drawn back to the cockpit when the crewman emerged.  
"We've just gotten a message from Air Traffic Control: The military installation is commencing an operation so we've been put on hold until further notice."

"But we _are_ military." Dusty corrected him, to which the Crewman went to then theorise;  
"Guess they must be launching aircraft."

….

Davis and Yamane stood by one of the monitors watching a live feed from Honolulu as they tracked Ghidorah's signal. Next to the screen was a smaller monitor divided out into a grid, each square containing and representing an aircraft. A detachment from Cheetah Squadron were finishing their preparations. Their mission was to intercept Ghidorah over the Pacific, making sure he stayed clear of Hawaii and did not reach the Mainland US.

Yamane turned to meet Davis' eye.  
"I'm worried about this." He said somewhat flatly.  
"So am I." David replied, folding his arms as he watched the fighters take off. "Hopefully this should work."

….

The airfield was in a frenetic panic as pilots rushed to their fighters. Clambering up the ladders, they hopped into the cockpits as engineers handed them their helmets and the glass canopies slid shut. Taxiing out onto the runway one at a time, the F-35s were guided by ground crew waving lights, pointing them in the right direction.

First Lieutenant Damon Wright, or by his callsign 'Cheetah Two', eased his fighter into position on the runway. Cheetahs Three and Four were already in the sky, circling the airfield waiting for the others to take off.  
The pilots' headset crackled with static,  
"Alright, Cheetah-Two, you are go for takeoff." The officer in air traffic control said, "The sky is yours."  
"Copy that." Damon answered, "My sky."

Gripping the joystick, he ran a quick check of the cockpit before powering up the engine. As he gradually increased throttle, the whine of the F-35s' engine grew louder into a high pitched whistle as the plane sped up faster and faster on the runway. Feeling pulled back into his seat, he took a hold of the stick and pulled back, lifting the plane's nose. There was a sudden rush of weightlessness as he felt the rear wheels lift off of the ground and he was in the air. Climbing, Damon made his way out of the runways' flight path, allowing the next fighter to takeoff as he banked to regroup with the others.

After another few minutes, all Five Cheetahs were in the air, passing over Kauai and heading north towards their target.  
"All Fighters report in." The squadron leader ordered.  
"Cheetah Four, standing by." One voice replied  
"This is Cheetah Three, standing by." Another said.  
"Cheetah Five, standing by."  
"Cheetah Two standing by." Damon said.

Flying in formation, the aircraft were well over the ocean now.  
"Come in Cheetah Air Squadron." A voice came in over comms, "You are on direct approach to the target. It has just passed over Sector Four."

Heads rolled as they searched for the incoming target.  
"I don't see anything." Five said.  
"Me neither. No visual." Three replied.

A dark shadow was passing through a cloud not far above them, shooting through the air.  
"I see him." Damon said, "One o'clock high!"  
"Cheetah Squadron, you are clear to engage!"  
The squadron split up, climbing to meet the monster. Damon could already hear the raw _BBBBVVVRRRRPPPP_ of Four's machineguns.

Ghidorah flew with immense speed for his size, using the full force of his wings to keep a large distance between him and the planes. Turning to fall in behind the monster, the aircraft began to lock on. Damon kept his crosshairs dead on Ghidorah, firing bursts of .50 Cal as he awaited a missile lock. Normally, machinegun fire like that would be enough to down most targets no bother, however, the monster simply shrugged off the barrage with ease. Firing another burst, Damon flinched as his console flashed red, the words _Target Lock_ blaring at him. Flicking off the cap, he hovered his thumb over the fire button.  
"This is Cheetah Three, Firing One." He pressed the button down hard.

Dropping from the underside of the F-35s' wing, the missile took flight, cutting through the air towards Ghidorah, leaving a swirling white vapour trail behind it. The missile struck the beast on its' underside with an earth shaking BOOM as flames plumed. More missiles from the other fighters hit the monster and Ghidorah spun left.  
"Christ! He's fast!" Three exclaimed.  
"Stay on him!" Cheetah One ordered, banking to keep up with the monster.

"Spinning to eleven." Damon said, rolling his fighter. The world spun around the plane's cockpit as he hurdled over the others. Lining up, he got another target lock and opened fire, pummelling the creature with another round of missiles, again to no effect.

Suddenly, Ghidorah spread his wings wide, catching huge amounts of air, allowing the monster to decelerate, shooting past Damon's' right side.  
"Holy shi-!" Five's voice shouted before being cut off by static. Looking over his shoulder, Damon saw fragments of wing spinning away from a fireball.  
"Cheetah Five is down!" Cheetah Leader shouted, "Five is down!"

Splitting up, the remaining fighters came around for another pass.  
"We giving him the bait and switch?" Damon asked,  
"Hell yeah!" Three replied, "You up for it, Four?"  
Four acknowledged, "Let's get this bastard!"

Four shot over the top of Ghidorah as the other three F-35s circled. Ghidorah caught sight of Four and moved into a chase, all three jaws snapping at the aircrafts' tail as it fought to catch up with the plane. The monster shrieked, flapping his wings harder to try and accelerate. He almost caught the rear fin of the F-35 when it rolled stiffly, pulling a 90 degree knife.

 _BBBBVVVRRRRPPPP  
_ Cheetahs One, Two and Three shot towards Ghidorah head-on, firing everything before passing over behind the monster. While Ghidorah was dazed by the attack, Four pulled away, quickly losing the monster in the clouds.

"Nice one!" He shouted over the comms, hearing Three whoop with joy as Ghidorah struggled to regain balance. "Lining up for another pass. Get ready."  
Tilting, he decelerated to be within Ghidorah's sights once more.

Damon checked his ammunition; two more missiles and about seventy rounds on the MG. Gripping the joystick, he could make out the tiny black dot that was Ghidorah quickly drawing nearer as they charged it. Heart pounding in his chest, Damon waited for the lock-on. As soon as it flashed, he fired. Both missiles hit the beast and it hissed. Pulling back on the stick, Damon lifted out of the way.

This time, however, Ghidorah also rolled, mouths agape. Cheetah Three just cleared the monsters' attack. Cheetah Leader wasn't so lucky. Ploughing straight into the beast, his plane exploded and he was killed instantly. Debris scattered everywhere and Damon watched in horror as a shard of tail-fin sliced through Four's starboard wing. More flames erupted and the jet spun out of control. Ghidorah lifted up higher above the clouds, avoiding the crippled F-35.

"I'm hit!" Four cried in terror, "I've lost all control!"  
"Bail out!" Damon barked, "Stabilise and bail!"  
Cheetah Four continued to spin out of control, whirling end over end as it plummeted out of the sky, chunks of fuselage being torn off left and right. Easing out to a horizontal spin, the plane struggled to keep level. A wave of relief washed over Damon when he saw Four launch out of the cockpit. He was out of the fight, but at least he was alive.

"Command, this is Cheetah Two." He said into the comms. "One, Four and Five are down. We're pulling out!" There was a brief second f delay,  
"Solid copy. Ghidorah is coming back around: Get the hell out of there!"  
That chilled Damon to the bone. He could hear Ghidorah's shrieks and roars as the monster closed back in on him and Three.  
"Watch out!" Damon shouted, seeing the dark silhouette behind his plane.  
"He's closing in on us!" Three replied, "Try to swing around behind him."

Swerving left and right, Damon tried to get Ghidorah off of his tail, swooping below Three as they lowered down closer to the ocean. No luck. Ghidorah was deadest on the two F-35s, his wings pounding as he pelted forwards.  
"Three o'clock!" Three cried out, "He's gonna hit us!"  
The pilot was right.

One of Ghidorah's heads swung out, snatching Cheetah Three up in his jaws and the aircraft quickly burst into flames.

Full throttle, Damon tried to pull away. He was the only one left. Pushing the stick forward, he dived below Ghidorah to a near vertical drop towards the ocean. If he could get low enough, maybe Damon could get Ghidorah to hit the water. Then again, the force of such a tight tur would probably knock him out too. Just a little more, he thought.

CLANG  
His aircraft shuddered violently. The world suddenly began to spin and he saw flashes of black clouds of smoke as the plane spiralled out of control. The console blared red. On the screen, he saw that his left dorsal tail had been torn loose along with the stabiliser fin.  
"COME ON!" He roared, wrestling the plane into submission as he tried to get level. There was no point worrying about the tight turn now, he had to bail.

Once the aircraft was flat, he flicked several switches before grabbing a handle under his seat. Tugging with all his strength, he heard it click into place, followed by a muffled pop. A split second later, he heard the ejector seat BANG underneath him and Damon slammed his eyes shut, gripping the seat as hard as he could as air rushed past him and he was launched clear of the spiralling F-35. A massive shadow cast over him as Ghidorah swooped overhead, quickly disappearing up into the clouds, cackling in triumph.

A few seconds later, his chute deployed and the chair dropped away from him. Damon watched his jet come apart as it spun towards the ocean. One wing bent and peeled off, followed by the nose cone and then the entire cockpit. The aircraft hit the water at terminal velocity, letting out a powerful smack-sound as white surf water erupted up around it in a violent burst. The jet was completely destroyed by the impact, as all that was left was several shreds of debris which quickly sunk out of sight into the watery depths.

After about a minute or so, Damon landed in the water, quickly submerging. Clawing his way to the surface, he coughed and sputtered, trying to tread water as he searched for the cord on his life jacket. Yanking it, it hissed and quickly filled with air, easing out the force he had to use to keep afloat. Looking round, the pilot struggled to comprehend what had just happened. The wreckage of his plane had completely vanished now and there was no trace of Ghidorah. In the distance on the horizon, Damon could see the fain outline of a green smoke flare. That was Four. He was still alive.  
Damon began to rummage through his outfit and survival pack, eventually he found the foot-long smoke flare. Popping the cap, he ignited it and a plume of lime green smoke billowed out into the air. Tucking it into his pack, he began to swim towards the other flare. Command have known they were brought down. Hopefully, they would send someone out to find them. Damon wished for the best as he made his way towards Four's position.

….

"Cheetah Squadron is gone, sir." One of the officers said grimly, staring at the monitor. All five jets' screens were red with the text DESTROYED over them.  
"Son of a bitch! He's heading straight for the West Coast!" Admiral Davis muttered, stepping back from the viewscreen. For a moment, he stood absolutely motionless. Taking in a deep breath, he went to action. "Lieutenant I want a search party out their ASAP. Try and locate any survivors. I want us at full speed towards the Mainland now." He turned to Yamane. "You said Godzilla's purpose is to restore balance?" He asked.  
The old man nodded,

"Well I can't believe I'm saying this; but we need to get them to fight." He spun on his heel to look out of the window over the ocean, "And as for whoever wins: May God help us all."

* * *

 **We've reached the halfway mark in the story. Thank you for staying up to date so far. Still more to come.  
** **While it is considered one of the best by most of the fandom, I don't really like the 1991 Godzilla V King Ghidorah movie. Maybe its' because of the god-awful English Dub version I own. One scene in particular ruins the movie for me: the battle between Ghidorah and the Air Force. It is features downright the worst voice acting I have ever witnessed, paired with terrible dialogue. With this chapter I tried remaking the scene but with less Suck.  
** Here's the original clip:  
watch?v=FDJJf-kqSiQ


	8. 7: Landfall

Chapter 7: Landfall

"The Crisis in Japan has subsided," Meechum spoke, stood out in front of a podium before several hundred bystanders. "Rescue and disaster relief groups are starting their work to ease the damage of the incident. But No matter how long it takes, the memory of the crisis will stay with us all forever."

They were in a park in downtown San Francisco, where the Vice President was supposed to give his original speech teasing his campaign, though now with new events unfolding; some changes had to be made. There was an eerie silence in the audience as Meechum spoke; no occasional applause or whoo-hoo's, just several mournful and worried faces staring back at the stage.  
"Now is the time to further strengthen our bond with our allies overseas and unite to help those affected and make sure such an event never happens again."

Rachel stood off to one side, next to the Vice President's security. She felt out of place next to the three stoic Secret Service Agents. She could see the new cameras rolling and array of camera flashes as Larry continued to speak. It was about an hour after midday, the sun sat high in the pale blue sky, slightly obscured by a handful of small clouds.  
Her stomach grumbled and Rachel remembered that she had skipped breakfast. Larry would finish up soon, she thought. After that they would be heading straight down to the airport for their flight to Washington; the Iowa trip had been cancelled after a call from the Secretary of State ordered they got back to DC as soon as possible.

Police sirens squawked as a pair of squad cars rolled down the road nearby, lights flashing red and blue. That was probably nothing, Rachel thought, dismissing it. However, she became increasingly more worried when Sullivan was called over to a nearby vehicle. She couldn't hear him talk to the driver though she could see the concern light up on his face as he went straight to his earpiece and mic, dishing out orders.

"We have to leave." Mendoza said to her, striding past to the stage. "Right now." Sullivan was already opening the door to one of the cars as Stambler followed Mendoza over to the Vice President. With very little dialogue, they hurried him off stage mid-sentence as the event security began to usher people out of the park. Murmurs of confusion and panic began to rise as no one knew what was happening.

Someone screamed, pointing to the sky before the whole park went silent as a huge shadow cast over them. Rachel looked up, thinking it may have been a plane or a helicopter or something. It wasn't. Her jaw dropped in horror as she caught a glimpse of the golden-scaled beast flying overhead. Total anarchy ensued.

Ghidorah roared as he flew over the city. Wings flapping, he slowed and brought his legs up, landing atop of a nearby building. The sheer weight of the monster caused several floors of the building to collapse and shatter. Nevertheless, the monster dug its' claws in and perched itself on the building as people fled in terror.

Taking off running, Rachel crossed the road to where the Vice President's motorcade was. The door was still open in one of the cars and she leapt inside. Slamming the door shut, she heard Stambler yell to Mendoza to drive. The cars' engine roared and the car took off, followed by two other black cars and a police cruiser.

Looking around, Rachel saw that Larry was also in the car with her along with Stambler and Mendoza who was driving.  
"Where's Sullivan?" Meechum asked, panicked.  
"He's in the lead car, sir." Stambler replied, "We need to get you to a Safehouse."

The cluster of vehicles pelted down the street as people ran along the sidewalks. Two jets screamed overhead, opening fire on the Three Headed Dragon. Missiles streaked through the air towards Ghidorah. Muffled explosions boomed as the monster was knocked off of his perch, falling into the streets below and taking the top half of the building with him. The park they had just been in less than a minute ago was completely buried as a wall of smoke and dust raced up the street after the cars.

"FLOOR IT!" Stambler cried. Rachel felt the car lurch forward as it accelerated, weaving past the others until only Sullivan's car was in front of them. The world was enveloped in a dark musty brown when the dust cloud washed over them. Mendoza swore to himself, flicking on the car's headlights. They had to get out of the city. Looking round, Rachel finally buckled herself in and saw that Stambler had Meechum flat on one of the seats, keeping his head down to protect him. Reaching forward, she gripped the back of the passenger seat to look out of the windshield.

It was almost impossible to see anything through the dust save for the glowing red tail lights of the lead car. Something moved to the left and Rachel caught a glimpse of it. A clawlike shape bigger than a bus came swiping in towards them from one side of the street.  
"Oh my god watch out!" She screamed in panic as the shape quickly closed the distance.

Landing flat, the claw dropped right on top of the lead car; crushing it. Mendoza slammed the breaks and the rear of the car squealed in protest. It wasn't enough as the vehicle went barrelling into the side of the claw. Rachel slammed her eyes shut as she was thrown back in her seat. She heard glass shatter and Larry cry out. Dusty air rushed past her as she was thrown about in her seat, the car crashing end over end.

Eventually, it grinded to a halt and the Chief of Staff came back to her senses, slowly opening her eyes again. She was upside down. The car was upside down. Looking around she saw Stambler kicking open the door. Flying off, it clattered on the ground before the Secret Service Agent clambered out and began to pull Meechum with him. Grabbing her seatbelt, Rachel fought to undo it. The button was jammed. Tugging at the base as hard as she could, she heard something snap before the seatbelt buckle was torn from its' mount and she collapsed in a heap on the ceiling of the car. Yelping in shock, she scrambled about trying to get her bearings. Reaching over to the front of the vehicle, she saw Mendoza was still buckled in, hanging upside down, motionless. She could see spatters of blood on the shattered remains of the windshield. She shook the agents' arm and got no response. He was dead.

She felt a hand grab the collar of her jacket as Stambler hauled her out of the wrecked vehicle. Landing on the cracked asphalt, she got to her feet and the three looked around. Most of the street had been wiped out as the monster towered high above them. The creature roared, swiping an arm at the other vehicles. In one swift strike all three cars were blasted off of the ground, slamming into a nearby building. One of them exploded and the three survivors dropped down for cover. Her hands covering her ears, Rachel heard Ghidorah's growl and saw one of the three heads looking down at them, teeth bared.

Stambler quickly drew his sidearm and grabbed her by the shoulder,  
"You need to get the Vice President out of here now!" He barked, pushing her and Larry away from him, "GO! NOW!"

Grabbing Larry's hand, she began to run as they darted up the street to find shelter. Looking over her shoulder, she could see the shrinking figure of Stambler firing his pistol up at the huge monster. Running faster, she could see a break in the road up ahead; a bus had been split in two and lay scattered across the road. Sprinting, the two took shelter behind it to catch their breath.

Stambler fired round after round at the beast's head, knowing it would do no good. After a final shot, the slide on the gun locked back as he was out of ammo. Dropping out the magazine, he reached for a new one when the head snapped forward at him. The Secret Service Agent died instantly under the creature's immensely powerful maw.

Rachel looked away, unable to bring herself to see the grim demise. Turning back to Larry, she took a dep breath,  
"Let's go." She said, "We need to reach an underground station."

….

The city was in total panic as thousands of people fled the centre. Military forces swarmed over the central business district to engage Ghidorah, causing dozens of explosions to erupt up and down the streets. Buildings were levelled as attack helicopters unloaded salvo upon salvo on the golden monster.

Three Destroyer warships closed on the San Francisco Bay, forming a perimeter at the Golden Gate Bridge. Canons and missile launchers swivelled on their mounts, firing across the bay to the city.

Aboard the bridge of one of the cruisers, the Captain watched as the crew unloaded their ammunition across the water. Gripping the wheel, he stood ready for action when movement on the radar caught his eye. The usual beep was of much deeper pitch which caused the Captain to assume another ship was moving into position. Except there was no Destroyer-shaped green outline on the radar screen: The whole screen was one green block.

He felt the ship rise as panic struck. Grabbing onto the wheel tighter, he watched in awe as gigantic spikes rose out of the water around them.  
"BRACE!" He roared to his crew as the ship was lifted out of the water. As the massive shape rose out of the water, the Destroyer was caught on its' back, eventually falling off and drifting aside as the spikes cut through the water towards the entrance to the bay. Just clearing the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge, the spikes ploughed forward towards the city. Commotion on the bridge stopped as people stopped their vehicles, getting out and looking over the side as the huge shape passed underneath them. A long, bony tail cleared the surface, flicking about in the air as it moved forward into the bay.

Stopping a few hundred meters short of the shore, the spines slowly rose. The massive dinosaur emerged out of the water. Scanning the bay, the pair of eyes searched for Ghidorah, who was scaling the side of a building further into the city. Marching forward, Godzilla came ashore. His huge strides tore through North Beach and Pier 39 as he advanced inland. Up ahead was a large hill with several buildings atop of it.

Pushing onwards, Godzilla climbed the hill, reaching the top in a matter of seconds. As he steadied himself, the king waved his tail around him, taking the top off of the Coit Tower. Overlooking the entire city, Godzilla parted his jaws and let out a long roar of challenge to Ghidorah.  
Ghidorah slowly turned to face the king. Baring his teeth he roared back with all three heads in defiance.

….

Cade and Dusty had just arrived at the barracks of the air force base. Walking down the corridors to the barracks, they slung their packs over their shoulders and headed inside. Several soldiers were already in there, finishing setting down gear of their own. One of them saw the two enter and suddenly all of them launched to their feet to salute them. Looking round at the faces, Cade felt joy build up inside of him as he recognised every single one of them.

"Welcome back, sir." Rook said.  
Alpha Six was together once again.

Cade was grinning like a child.  
"You kick much ass without us?" He asked Rook, punching his arm. The SEAL shook his head, smiling,  
"It wouldn't be the same, boss. It's good to have you back."  
"It's good to be back." Cade replied. "So what do we do now?" He asked.

Dusty patted him on the shoulder and turned back to the door of the barracks, where a military officer was stood. He looked worried.  
"What's the problem, sir?" Cade asked him.  
"San Francisco's just been hit." He explained. "We need all forces to help with the evacuation."  
 _Rachel was in San Francisco._

Cade looked around at the other members of the team, who all slowly rose to their feet, picking up their bags. Smiling, he turned back to the officer.  
"Alpha Six is ready for tasking, sir."

….

Alpha Six stood in the briefing room aboard the _Ronald Reagan_ , listening intently as Admiral Davis explained the situation. Off to one side, Yamane stood with his cane, waiting to move into the second phase of the briefing.  
"As you know, all forces are being tasked with helping the evacuation efforts or enforcing the lockdown of the city." Davis explained. "However, during Ghidorah's initial arrival, the Vice President's motorcade was intercepted and we've lost contact." That sent murmurs of worry amongst the SEALs.

"Your mission is to locate and extract Vice President Meechum if he is still alive. You will be inserted over the city via HALO Jump." The Admiral then pointed to a map of the city. "Your landing zone is here at Union Square. From there you will push through the city, following California Street and then Drumm Street to Sue Bierman Park; the last known location of the Vice President."  
Davis then handed over the briefing to Yamane, who began to go through what information they had on the two monsters.

When he finished, Davis took over again. Smiling at the SEAL Team, he held his hands behind his back,  
"I understand you've been through hell and we're asking you to go again. As far as we know, the security of the United States rests on you, gentlemen. I have faith in you. Dismissed."


	9. 8: The Battle of San Francisco

Chapter 8: The Battle of San Francisco

Not a word was spoken as the team geared up. Cade slammed a magazine into the receiver of his HK416. It wasn't his preferred loadout; the ACOG had been swapped out for a reflex and magnifier and the foregrip was a stubby model, yet he didn't care at this point. Besides, they may be firing but it wasn't like it was a shoot-to-kill scenario.

Racking the bolt, he slung the assault rifle and pulled on his helmet. Fastening the straps, he stopped for a moment. Taking a piece of paper out of his pocket he observed it; it was a photo of him and his wife. Smiling, he drew a long sigh before pocketing the photo and heading off with the others. Heading out onto the deck of the _Reagan_ , a C130 Cargo Plane was waiting with the rear ramp down. Aside from the plane, the ships' deck had been cleared either to make room for the C130 or because so many aircraft had already been scrambled. The flight crew were finishing their preparations for refuelling and calibrations.

Boarding the craft, Alpha Six took their seats and began to buckle in. Slinging rifles, they grabbed their oxygen masks from their packs. Dusty began to hand out small blue canisters; smoke flares. The SEALs attached the flares to their ankles ready to set off when they jumped. As they did so the ramp slowly began to close and the plane's propellers began to spin. Taxiing out onto the runway of the carrier, the plane straightened and aligned itself with the markings on the deck.

"You got some balls doing this jump." A voice said to Cade as he finished putting on his oxygen mask. Turning to see who it was; it was the Air Crewman who was on the previous flight. "Straight back into the fight after Osaka?"  
Cade nodded, "Yeah. This is personal."

The plane began to rumble as the engines began to whir louder and louder. Gradually, the vehicle began to accelerate before eventually lifting up into the air, heading off into the sky towards San Francisco.  
"Ay, Rook." Stump spoke up, "Any ideas for names for your kid?" He asked.  
"I don't know." He replied, "But I sure as hell know if it's a boy I ain't namin' him after you."  
The team began to laugh as Stump punched Rook on the arm.

"Guys you really shouldn't be so hard on Rook because he's having a kid." Dusty said from across the cargo hold, causing all laughter to die down as eyes fell on the Junior Lieutenant. "Cos to be honest, I've got a daughter at home in New York. She just turned twelve in January."  
A chorus of confused remarks erupted. Not even Cade knew that; Dusty never really seemed like the family man type.  
"Well ain't that somethin'." Stump said, "Dusty's a daddy."

….

"Stay low, this way!" Rachel whispered to Meechum as they crossed the street towards the smouldering ruin of the Autodesk Gallery building. Ghidorah had previously trampled through the area, taking most of the building down in the process. Down the street was an entrance to the underground subway.  
"We might be able to find shelter there!" Meechum pointed out.

Stopping, the two took cover behind an abandoned car and looked around the street. It was completely empty. In the distance, the two could hear Ghidorah roaring, except then something roared back at the monster. A split second later, the shape of the three headed dragon exploded through a skyscraper down the street, landing in a heap amongst the rubble. As the monster began to get to its' feet, another building's supports gave out and it slowly came crashing down.

"RUN FOR IT!" Rachel shouted, making a straight B-line for the entrance. The station had been completely demolished and the stairs were blocked. Running around the other side, a portion of the street had caved into the tunnel beneath, leaving an entrance to the underground. Up ahead, the building had almost vanished now and another massive dust cloud was hurtling down the street towards them. Pushing the Vice President in front of her, Rachel ran for her life towards the new entrance.

Finally reaching the cave-in, Meechum hopped down, skidding on the gravel as he came to a halt. Rachel had almost reached the entrance when the dust cloud hit. It was like being hit by a train as the woman was stopped dead in her tracks. Diving to the floor, she squinted through the dirt as she tried to claw her way to the hole. Larry was leaning out with his arm outstretched to her.  
"Grab my hand!" He cried, stretching as far as he could towards her.  
Rachel extended her own arm to meet his, however her grip on the floor began to slip as she blast wave began to force her backwards. Their fingertips brushed before Rachel was blasted off of the ground and sent barrelling down the street screaming. Meechum cried out to her again before the ground he was on cracked and he fell down into the tunnel.

Tumbling head over heels, he dropped several feet before slamming hard into the ground, chunks of rock pummelling his back from above. Whimpering in pain, he rolled over, looking up to where he had fallen from. The hole had closed up with debris from the collapse and now he was trapped underground. Even worse; Rachel was trapped aboveground.

Shakily getting to his feet, Meechum figured he would need to find a way out of the subway if he was to rescue Rachel and get out of the city. Holding onto the tunnel wall, he limped through the darkness, following the faint glint of the metal train tracks.

What felt like years passed before he stumbled into one of the platforms. A dozen pairs of eyes looked to him as he appeared out of the tunnel. Squinting to make out their faces, Meechum saw a mix of men women and children all terrified and confused; their faces caked in dirt and dust, eyes wide as they huddled around small fires. Clambering up onto the platform, Meechum winced in pain as one of the older men rushed over to help him.

"Mr Vice President? Are you okay?" He asked with concern.  
"Never better." Meechum joked, forcing himself to his feet. He looked around at the people in the subway, wondering what had happened.  
"Many of us were out on the street and couldn't get out in time before that…. _Thing_ attacked." The man explained, "The station entrance was destroyed behind us, so as far as we know; we're trapped down here for now."  
That wasn't going to happen. Meechum had to get back up to the surface and he couldn't just leave these people here.  
"I have an idea. Is there anybody who is injured and cannot walk?" A frail, shaking hand was raised from someone in the group. As Meechum went over, he saw it was a younger man with a broken leg. There were two kids with him, sat either side of him. It looked serious as his foot and ankle lay drooped at a painful angle.  
"What's your name?" Meechum asked, kneeling down at the man's side.  
"Paul." He said, clenching his teeth in pain. "This is my Son Jerry and my Daughter Sarah." He said, introducing the two kids. "It's an honor, Mr Vice President." He said, smiling through the pain as he shook his hand.  
"I'll be right back." Meechum said, getting to his feet. "If you have any sort of light; a flashlight or your mobile phone: get it out. We're going to find a way out of here." He explained. Grabbing a large metal pole, he tore off the sleeve of his shirt and wrapped it around the pole, followed by his tie. Setting the improvised torch alight, he held it aloft as other people got out their sources of light.  
Walking back over to Paul, he took his hand and helped him up. Resting the man's weight on his shoulder, he helped him limp over to the platform edge.  
"We're going to follow the tracks out of the city." He said, taking the lead as the group slowly began to make their way into one of the subway tunnels, illuminating it with their array of lights.

….

The cargo hold of the plane was cast in a dark crimson when the red light came on. Immediately, the SEALs ran through the final preparations for their jump. Standing up, they checked each other's parachutes. As he fumbled with Dusty's pack, Cade felt Rook pat him on the shoulder. Making sure Dusty's chute was ready, he did the same. The hatch slowly began to open at the back of the plane, setting out the blue sky and clouds around them.

"Good luck out there." The Flight Crewman called out, "Kick some ass for us."  
The Light turned green and action set in. As one fluent body, the SEALs ran to the ramp, leaping off into the air in quick succession. Cade was last off. Even after dozens of drops, it was truly an exhilarating experience; jumping out of an airplane at thirty-thousand feet. Throwing himself forward, Cade felt his feet leave the ramp and he started to fall.

He felt almost weightless, plummeting through the air. As soon as he cleared the plane, he reached back and popped the flare on his ankle. The flare began to pour out a blue smoke trail behind him. Eyes forward again, he saw the others were doing the same and began to follow the trails of blue smoke down towards the earth. The city was blocked out by grey clouds, which quickly grew as they fell into them.  
Two thousand metres. Cade kept falling, his arms and legs outstretched to slow his fall. Visibility was almost non-existent in the clouds as all he could see was flashes of grey and white rushing past his face. Keeping focussed on the blue dots of the smoke flares, he stayed on target.

The clouds suddenly broke away and they were in full view of the city below them. The area was in ruin with several buildings completely wiped out. Godzilla and Ghidorah were still going at it; throwing punches and slamming each other into the sides of skyscrapers whilst blocking claws and bites from each other.

Steering clear of the brawling monsters, the SEALs controlled their descent and veered towards their landing zone at Union Square.  
One Thousand Metres.  
In his peripheral vison, Cade could see Ghidorah slash at Godzilla's face. The ancient beast squealed and slammed Ghidorah with his tail, sending him rolling away from him. Roaring into the sky again, the King marched after the other monster. Suddenly, Ghidorah exploded upwards, striking Godzilla again and again. His roar cut short by the attack, Godzilla stumbled backwards and collapsed. Pouncing up onto him, Ghidorah tried to keep the monster pinned as he lashed out violently.

Eight Hundred Metres.  
One by one, the team began to deploy their chutes. Tugging at one of the cords on his pack, there was a second delay before Cade felt the jolt on his back as his parachute deployed. Grabbing the handles, he began to steer it and followed the others as they circled around the square below them. Surprisingly, the statue in the centre of the square had not been knocked over and stood erect. Avoiding the massive pillar, Cade found an open space and touched down. Landing hard, Cade tucked his knees and rolled. Ignoring the pain, he got to his feet and began to take off his pack. Dropping it, he drew his HK416 and looked around. The others had landed and were taking off their chute packs.

Dusty jogged over to him with a map.  
"Everyone on me." He barked.

Kneeling in a semicircle around Cade and Dusty, the team listened as the two set out their plan.  
"Alright, California Street is north east of here. We head down there and see if we can find the VP's motorcade." Dusty raised his rifle in the air. "Let's move it, people!"

….

Beaten and bloody, Godzilla staggered back from Ghidorah. It had been a long time since a fight like this for the ancient monster. Growling, he threw another flurry of punches at the other creature. Ghidorah reeled from the attack. One of his heads lashed out and sunk its' teeth into Godzilla's shoulder. Roaring he grabbed the head and crushed. Blood poured from the wound as Ghidorah's fangs dug into his arm. Crushing Ghidorah's head, the beast's jaw snapped and opened off of his arm. The head retreated shrieking as the other two came in to fill its' place, lashing out at Godzilla's head and neck.

Catching one of the heads, Godzilla pulled, turning to face away from the city as he wrenched full force on the head. Flinging Ghidorah by the middle head, he sent the dragon flying into the air, only for it to come crashing down nearby in a heap. Godzilla took the time to catch his breath. Looking at his wounded arm, the monster grimaced at the sight as he curled and uncurled the limb, trying to ignore the pain. Eventually the blood flow began to ease off and Godzilla went back into fighting Ghidorah.

Another tail swipe kept the other monster down for several seconds before Godzilla began to pummel Ghidorah with his fists for as long as he could. Blocking the attacks, Ghidorah lashed out with his tail. Striking Godzilla in the back of the head. The stunned monster then quickly fell victim to several more bites to the head and neck as Ghidorah got up and slowly began to turn the tide against the King.


	10. 9: Finding A Way Out

Chapter 9: Finding A Way Out

Alpha Six continued their way up the street, weapons at the ready as they passed amongst the abandoned cars and trucks. In the distance, they could hear the roars and crashes as the two monsters continued to battle. That kept the team on their toes to move as fast as possible.

Rounding a corner, they pushed up with Dusty and Rook on point. The entire block up ahead had almost been completely wiped out; most of the buildings had been levelled and the roads was littered with rubble and destroyed vehicles; among them a wrecked black car with US Flags on the hood: The Vice President's vehicle.

"Oh shit." Rook muttered as they closed in on the car. "This doesn't look good, man." He said worriedly. "I don't think they made it out."  
Cade went over to inspect the overturned car. Grimacing, he steeled himself for the worst as he approached the vehicle. If the VP was in there, Rachel would likely be too. And that would be a sight that would crush him completely. Peering into the broken windshield, he saw splattered blood and a dangling corpse.  
"We've got a body. Looks like Secret Service." He said. Shining the flashlight in the back, he saw the two rear seats were empty and their seatbelts hanging open. The rear side door was also missing; they must have gotten out. It would be an understatement to say Cade was relieved.

"Looks like they managed to get out of the car." He said. Walking around the other side, he saw the mess of scrapes and footprints in the dust on the ground. "If we follow the tracks we might be able to get to them."  
"Roger that."

Following the footprints, the team pushed up towards the end of California Street. They came to a halt at the end of the next block as the entire street had been blocked by a collapsed building; stopping their trail dead.  
"Dammit." Dusty remarked. "We'll never get over that." He looked around for solutions. Cade did the same, eyes darting around the street corners for any way around. Spotting a manhole cover, his eyes lit up. Jogging over, he called the squad to follow.  
"I have an idea." He explained; "Dusty, Rook and I will try and find a way around via the sewer system. Everyone else remain here for now."

Calling over Rook, he watched as the SEAL took out a crowbar and began to gradually lift the manhole cover. Once it was open wide enough, Cade reached in to help him pull it the rest of the way off. Looking down into the blackness, he popped a flare and dropped it down. The flare dropped a couple of metres and splashed down in the water at the bottom. Satisfied, Cade grabbed the rungs of the ladder and began to make his way down into the sewer tunnels, followed by Dusty and Rook.

"Smells like shit." Rook muttered as he reached the bottom, splashing into the ankle deep water.  
"Why do you think that it, genius?" Dusty retorted, flicking on his weapons' flashlight. Cade did the same and waved the light around.  
"Okay, this way. This should take us underneath the collapsed building and over to Drumm Street." He explained, slowly beginning to creep forward.

Several minutes passed as the three crept through the pitch blackness, trying to ignore the stench as they walked. Up ahead was a junction and what appeared to be a doorway into another underground system. As the SEALs approached it, they read the sign on the door:  
SUBWAY MAINTENANCE ENTRANCE  
"Which way now?" Dusty asked as they hopped up onto the platform where the door was to get out of the muck.  
"I vote the way not filled with the entire city's crap." Rook said smugly, hovering at the door ready to get out of the sewer, eagerly looking to Cade for agreement.

The Master Chief nodded,  
"Alright, we'll head into the Subway." He explained. "From there, there should be an easier way back to the surface."

….

Another ten minutes passed as the three advanced down one of the subway tunnels, passing an abandoned metro train. Shining their lights in the windows they saw that everyone must have fled when the power was cut to the underground. Checking inside, they found all kinds of luggage and sorts left behind by the former occupants; briefcases and backpacks had been ditched in a panicked attempt to get off of the train faster.

Kicking open the back door, they hopped back down onto the tracks and prepared to move on when they could see a faint orange glow from around the corner of the tunnel.  
"Light up ahead." Cade said, raising his HK416 to the source of it.  
"Light at the end of the tunnel? I hope that doesn't mean what I think it does." Rook said, cautiously backing up against the wall of the tunnel.  
There was faint sound coming from around the corner; not the rattle of an oncoming train on the tracks but the scraping of footsteps on gravel and the faint echo of worried mumbling and whispers.

Gradually, several shapes emerged from around the corner and stopped dead when they saw the soldiers pointing guns at them. It was a dozen or so people holding flashlights, mobile phones and improvised torches.  
"Lower your weapons. We got civilians." Dusty said, taking the lead towards the group. At the front of the cluster of people was a man holding up a flaming torch in one hand and carrying an injured person with the other.  
"Military? Thank God you're here." He said, sighing with relief. As Cade got closer, he recognised the man as their objective; Vice President Meechum.  
"Mister Vice President." Dusty said, saluting. "We're here to evacuate you out of the city." He said. Going onto the comms, Cade tried to get through to the others up top.

"Stump, you there?" He asked.  
" _Y..h….We're….Wai…..g..O..er_." The radio crackled, interrupted by the ground above their heads.  
"We've found the VP along with some civilians. I'm sending them back up to you now. Over."  
" _Solid….We…Got…..h…Out._ "

Turning back to the Vice President, Cade began to question him.  
"Sir, do you know where your Chief of Staff is?" He asked.  
That hit Meechum hard as Cade could see a pang of regret in his eyes as he realised who he was talking about.  
"We… We got separated. I don't know if…" He trailed off, looking to the floor in shame. "We were on Market Street, she might still be there."

Cade turned to Dusty,  
"Dusty, I want you to take point and escort the VP and the civilians to the surface. Regroup with the others and head to the evac point." He began to walk off down the tunnel alone.  
"What about you?" He asked  
"I'll be fine. Just get out of here." He said. "Good luck, brother."  
"See you in Hell." Dusty replied.  
….

"Director. I don't think its' working." Davis said as he watched the viewscreen in horror. Ghidorah had gained the upper hand in the fight and was now pushing Godzilla further and further back, tearing into the other monster, seemingly growing stronger with each strike.

Yamane wasn't pleased. Staring at the live feed of the battle, he grimaced and bit his lip. "He _has_ to defeat Ghidorah: There's no other way." He said determinately. Walking across the bridge to the window, he set his cane aside and groaned. "How many have been evacuated?" He asked.  
"Most of the city, sir." Davis answered. "There's still about an eighth of the population still inside the lockdown perimeter. A targeted Nuclear Strike is waiting as a failsafe."

"ABSOLOUTLEY NOT!" Yamane suddenly boomed, causing even the grizzled veteran that was Admiral Davis to jump. "Nuclear Weapons are not an option in this battle. They never should be." He sighed, taken aback by how loud he had been, "They've already caused enough damage in the past."

….

Tearing at the rubble, Cade fought his way through the cave in and clawed his way out into the lobby of the train station. Hopping the turnstiles, he staggered up the steps and out onto the street. Panting and wheezing, he walked over to a nearby car and rested against it to regain his stamina. He had been on his own for about half an hour now. The others would have likely reached the extraction point by now. He told them not to wait for him so if he did find Rachel they would have to find their own way out of the city. Summoning up his strength, he pushed on up the street towards the coast.  
SSKKKREEEEOOONNNKKK  
Suddenly the earth shook violently as an ear-splitting roar erupted behind him. Wheeling, he watched as Godzilla was thrown into a nearby building and collapsed amidst the cloud of dust. Thrown off his feet, the SEAL landed on his back and sat up, levelling his rifle. Through the dust, he could see the massive reptilian face lying on the ground.

Slowly getting up, he limped over towards it. He was truly gigantic, his head alone towering higher than a house, fangs and teeth taller than Cade himself. As he got closer, he saw the small golden eyes shift and look down directly at him. He was awestruck in the presence of the monster. Looking into its' eyes, he recognised the gaze of an old, wise being who had seen the world grown and change around him for millennia. The old wise eyes blinked slowly and painfully as the beast tried to readjust itself but to no luck. Settling back down again, Godzilla let out a long, pained growl which eventually faded out and the beast closed his eyes. Stepping closer, Cade reached out, placing his hand on the monster's snout. It was rough and cold like that of an armored lizard.  
"Easy there, pal." He said softly. "It's alright."  
Backing away as the monster fell quiet, he picked up his weapon again and got ready to move on. There really was nothing he could do for Godzilla if he was dead.

Moving on, he left the defeated monster behind and began to jog towards the coastline when the ground shuddered again and he turned to see Ghidorah right behind him. He had not been this close to the other monster since Fort Letchi. Pointing his rifle to the sky, he fired at the monster. Hissing, it flicked a claw at him and he was sent hurtling through the air. Landing hard on the asphalt, he rolled and skidded to a stop.

Groaning in pain, he forced himself upright as one of the massive heads came down to snarl at him. He knew he was going to die. In a futile attempt, Cad raised his HK416 again and fired, holding down the trigger until the weapon was empty. When the rifle stopped firing, he cast it aside and closed his eyes, awaiting the end as Ghidorah closed in for the kill.

Preparing what would be his final thoughts, he pictured himself stood with his wife smiling with their arms around each other; one of their old photos from before they were married. He wanted Rachel's face to be the last thing he ever pictured in his mind when it was interrupted by a deep blue glow coming from down the street. Averting his eyes, he saw the glow begin to grow more intense in the dust cloud as Ghidorah stopped and also turned to see what it was.

Movement in the dust cloud as a massive armored tail curled into the sky. The short stubby spikes that ran along the top of the tail were the source of the blue light. Glowing almost crystalline, they seemed to emit a low electronic throbbing sound as the light began to move up the tail. The spikes which ran along it each began to glow one by one until they reached the base. That was when the bipedal reptile form emerged from the dust cloud, the glow still moving up his spines up his back. A bright blue, they sparked with energy as the monster summed up immense amounts of power.  
Spikes still glowing, Godzilla threw his mouth open and the world was filled with light…

An icy white beam of fire shot from the monsters' jaws. Striking Ghidorah in the back, it burned into the creature, who recoiled, howling in pain. The beam ceased as Godzilla drew another breath. Letting another beam fly, he continued to scorch Ghidorah, pushing the monster back against another building. Slamming into the side of it, Ghidorah slipped away around the street corner as Godzilla pushed forwards, roaring into the sky before pursuing the fleeing dragon. Godzilla was back in business.

Taking the opportunity Cade scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.

* * *

 **Yeah it was only a matter of time before I screwed up on the Daily Uploads thing. Sorry about that.  
There's not much to go now. After finishing posting Landfall, There'll be a couple of days delay before I start posting a sequel in order for me to finish it or finish it to a point where the chapter I post and the chapter I write are far enough apart to guarantee steady uploads.  
Thanks for sticking around :)**


	11. 10: The King Rules

Chapter 10: The King Rules

"Dear God." Davis said, his jaw wide open in shock as he watched the monsters' atomic breath cut through several buildings. He turned to Yamane, "I hope you're right that he's on our side." Crossing the bridge, he planted his hands on the table and sighed, looking at the map of deployments around the city.

"Sir, new intel is in!" An officer called out to him. "Alpha Six has secured the Vice President. They've landed at Muir Beach and an extraction team is en route." That was good news. "However, one of the SEALs wants permission to take the helicopter back into the city."  
"What for?" Davis asked, curious.  
"They left a man behind, sir. He wants to get him." That made sense.  
"Give him the green light."

Within a couple of minutes, Davis could hear the rumbling of the helicopters' engines as it lifted off of the Aircraft Carrier's deck. Looking to the window, he saw it fly past and off into the bay towards the city.

…..

Rounding the block into the next street, Cade stopped to catch his breath. Tearing off his helmet, he dropped it to the floor and groaned, resting against a nearby wall. Panting hard as his heart punched about in his chest, he saw movement further down the street. Pulling off the buckle, he drew his sidearm, pointing the pistol down the street. He could just make out the outline of a person walking alone through the wrecked streets.  
"HELLO!" He called out to them. The person stopped, peering in his direction as they tried to find the source of the call. Spotting him, they started to walk towards him. Pushing off of the wall, Cade made his way towards the approaching person.  
He was about to call out to them a second time when the world seemed to freeze. The approaching woman stopped dead in her tracks as well as him as they recognised each other.

"CADE!" Rachel cried, taking off running to him.  
"RACHEL!" Cade shouted back, beginning to run as well.

Finally reaching each other, they embraced as Rachel threw her arms around him.  
"Oh my God you're alive!" She said, clinging tightly to him.  
"I can't believe I found you." Cade replied, smiling. He had never been so relieved in his life. He wanted this moment to last for ever as the two slumped to their knees, arms still around each other's torsos.  
That was when Cade realised something was wrong.

There was a deep, monstrous breathing not far away from them. Slowly turning his head, Cade jumped when he realised Ghidorah was right in front of the two of them, bent right down until all three heads were looking right at them, each baring their teeth in rage. Rachel screamed, eyes wide as they embraced tighter. Cade tried to shield her as much as he could as the monster drew closer.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed the neck of Ghidorah's middle head, wrenching it back with extreme force. Panicking, the monster shrieked and scrambled trying to break free. Parting his jaws, Godzilla let out another radioactive blast. The beam fired true, slicing through the Dragons' elongated neck and completely severing it. The lifeless head slammed into the street nearby as Godzilla grabbed the squirming beast by the shoulders. Lifting him up, Godzilla threw Ghidorah into the bay. Howling in rage, Ghidorah sent waves flying out as he landed in the water. Fighting to get up, Ghidorah's two remaining heads turned back to godzilla as his wings unfolded.

Before the beast could take flight, Godzilla blasted him again, and again and again. Each beam cut deeper into the monsters' chest until it caved in with a huge fireball. The explosion lit up the entire city as it blossomed up into the sky. When the explosion died down, Ghidorah's smouldering corpse stood for a few more seconds, swaying on limp legs before eventually crashing down into the water.  
It was done.

Lifting his head, Godzilla roared in triumph, his roar echoing up and down the city as the monster looked on. Pleased at his work, he stood stoically, looking out over the bay.

….

The _Reagan's_ bridge erupted into cheers of victory as crew members hugged and shouted with joy. Admiral Davis laughed proudly as a trio of jets streaked past the ship. It was finally over, Ghidorah had been defeated at last. He watched on the viewscreen as Godzilla slowly began to march out into the bay, the water quickly rising up to his waist.

Turning, Davis saw Yamane stood straight, his cane planted firmly between his feet, a wide hopeful smile grew across the Old Man's face. Tears of joy glinted in his glasses.  
"He did it." He said triumphantly.  
" _He did it_."

….

"Come here, you." Rachel said, pulling her face closer to Cade's and the two kissed. Sat in the middle of the street, they watched Godzilla stride past them into the ocean. He had done his job and it was time for him to leave.

Helped up onto his feet by Rachel, Cade and his wife made their way down the road towards the coast as a helicopter hovered past. Waving out to it, they stopped as the aircraft circled around for another pass. Coming into land, the door on the side of the helicopter opened and its' wheels hit the ground.

"Good to have you back." Dusty said, grinning as he helped the two aboard the helicopter.  
Taking a seat, the three waited for the pilots to get the helicopter up off of the ground. Lifting high into the air, they looked over the destruction of the city. Almost all of San Francisco had been levelled in the battle. The dust was beginning to clear as the orange light of the evening sky finally cast over the bay once more.

They watched as Godzilla made his way out into the deeper portion of the bay, quickly sinking out of sight until only his dorsal spikes stuck out of the water. Starting to swim, the beast waved his massive tail and pushed himself out past the cliffs and out to the open sea, where the spikes slowly dived and disappeared out of sight. He truly was King of the Monsters.

"What do we do now?" Dusty asked, looking out to the aircraft carrier waiting for them on the horizon.  
"We go home." Cade replied flatly, putting his arm around Rachel. The three looked out of the window of the helicopter s it flew over the city and out to sea as the sun finally began to set in the sky.

The End.

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 **So yeah that's the end of Landfall. I did a double upload today of Chapter 10 and the Epilogue because it wouldn't really fit to wait another day for it considering the main body of the story is finished. It'll be some time before I begin to post the sequel, anywhere between a couple of days and a week.**  
 **I'd like to thank you for reading and staying with the story all the way through. Lemme know what you think and if you have any ideas for things I can add in later entries. If by some chance you want to make your own spin off that ties in somehow (Is this a thing?) Go right ahead.**

 **Stay Tuned and Stay Epic -MrWorthARead**


	12. EPILOGUE

p class="MsoNormal"Epilogue: /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Several Months had passed since the Battle of San Francisco. The world had quickly become aware to the existence of the giant monsters Division Three had kept secret for decades./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It was a darkly lit meeting room in a top secret bunker, the location unknown to the outside world. Several board members of Division Three sat around the briefing table, talking as Director Yamane got up to the front. br / "Ladies and Gentlemen," He began politely. "We have successfully found him." He pressed a button on the remote in his hand and the footage came alive on the screen behind them. Heads swivelled to see as it showed aerial footage of an island in the pacific. Atop of one of the mountains, they could clearly see the distinct outline of Godzilla. As the footage rolled, they watched as he silently roared into the sky, overlooking the island. br / "We're developing a way to track him now." Yamane explained, "And we have been given the authorisation to put together a team of experts to track and predict his movements." That gained a round of applause for the old man as he crossed the room. However, the applause soon died when the officials saw the serious expression now on the man's face./p  
p class="MsoNormal"As he walked, he pressed another button and a set of screens powered on around the room, each one revealing a different picture. br / "Each of these are ancient cave paintings from around the world." He explained, pointing out several distinct images. Some were simple historical cave paintings, others showed more worrying images, such as monsters like Godzilla and Ghidorah doing battle. Other strange beasts appeared in the paintings; a Giant Aquatic animal, another massive Burrowing monster and a large Butterfly-like creature. br / "I think that what happened in San Francisco six months ago was only the beginning of something else." He said worriedly, br / "Godzilla is not alone."/p 


End file.
